


Death Comes Not Here

by gatekat, KarlWolfemann



Category: Highlander - All Media Types, SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-02-28
Updated: 2004-02-28
Packaged: 2018-08-19 18:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8220640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatekat/pseuds/gatekat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarlWolfemann/pseuds/KarlWolfemann
Summary: Jake and Abi have been seriously dating for several years when the unthinkable happens: SWAT crashes and burns. While most of T-Bone's body was recovered, only blood and a bit of flesh could be found of Razor, and that is not an answer Abi can accept.





	1. Opening of Eyes

"Please make yourself comfortable," the tightly controlled and primp young male Doberman Kantin butler showed Abi Sinnian to a grand library that smelled of an age not possible in it's current home.

"Thank you," Abi said politely, despite her growing impatience. Even the surroundings didn't do much to calm her down. She knew Jake was here, somewhere, and she'd already been waiting a week to find out what was going on.

She was pacing by the time the door opened again and the familiar outline of her boyfriend stepped into the dimly lit room. Just as clearly as it was Jake, it was a very different persona than he showed the world, even her.

"Jake?" Her first impulse was to run up and hold him, but the way he was acting held her back. Even so, she moved closer to him. "What happened?"

"We died," he said simply and stepped into the room. Despite the familiar features and obvious grief, he was dressed nicer and bore an air that set him in place with the manor. "Death just isn't a permanent thing for some of us."

"But ... how?" Abi felt totally out of place, suddenly; like she didn't belong here anymore. "Everybody thinks you're dead but ... you're not, you're here ... what's going on? Why haven't you told anybody?"

"Because Jake Clawson did die back there," he said softly, guiding her to the couch. "I'm sure you know enough to realize that token my mother made is impossibly old."

"Yes," she admitted. It was still in her pocket, actually, the brooch she'd used to find him after the crash, when his body couldn't be found. "I wasn't going to pry, though. If you're not Jake anymore, then who are you?"

"In flux, really." He chuckled at something he found oddly amusing and gently offered to draw her against his side. "Too many know I died back there, so I have to keep my head down for a generation or two while they forget to think it could be me. But for what you are asking, I was called Tyr after my adulthood ceremony."

Abi tried to work her tongue around the strange pronunciation; completely alien from any of the languages she was familiar with, or even their relatives. That wasn't the most important part of that, though. "So you're just going to disappear, for Bastet-knows how long?"

"Well, no." He shook his head slightly. "If I was going to disappear on you, you would have never been given a way to find me, much less this meeting." He told her gently.

"Good," she said quietly, breathing a silent sigh of relief as she took the chance of trying to put her arms around him. "So what are you going to do?"

"Play recluse industrialist for a while, brush up on what's been going on in the Immortal world and bring you up to speed on things."

That caught her attention. "Immortal world - there are more people like you?"

"There is a great deal mundanes don't even dream about walking among them." He chuckled softly and nuzzled her. "Immortals like us, shapeshifters, vampires, magic far beyond the couple lunatics they know of. Powers of all kinds, and most of them are native to Aristal."

"Immortals like you, you mean," she said softly, returning the nuzzle, just glad to be holding him. "Sweet Bastet, I'm glad you're alive. I wasn't sure if I was going to find you, or just find a body."

"It took you long enough to avoid that," he chuckled softly and gently rubbed her arm. "Kari said I was out for over two days after that splattering."

"So how did you get away?"

"My people were the first on the scene and know a few tricks to get bodies out without being detected." He chuckled softly and relaxed. "It's a valuable skill when you need to get your master out of the morgue or grave before he comes around again."

"Damn, that would not be fun," Abi said, shuddering slightly as she nuzzled him again.

"It's not, believe me. Waking up at the bottom of the sea is much worse though."

"And that would have been _very_ hard to explain - it's not exactly like they didn't try their damndest to find you as it was."

"I know, I should never have let myself get so high profile, but I couldn't let Chance down." He sighed softly and closed his eyes in grief that was still bright in his heart. "Mortals have such short times to enjoy the world, and what he wanted was so easy for me to arrange. Same as the funding for your last few digs."

"Chance was one of the good ones," she agreed quietly. "And I don't think there's anybody out there in their right mind who would say you didn't do the right thing, Jake - Tyr," she corrected herself, trying to get as close to what he'd said as she could, with mixed success. "You saved a lot of lives that way."

"And caught a hell of a lot of flack from others for it." He chuckled. "The non-mundane world has a very different morality when it comes to mundanes and their value. There are perks for being the oldest though, with a combat record as solid as mine."

"You want to know what I think they can do with their ideas about the value of mundanes," she asked, her tail twitching behind her slightly. "Besides - I don't know that I would have ever met you if you hadn't been wearing that mask - and that's something I'm very glad for."

"You would have," Jake murmured with a gentle nuzzle and licking kiss to her ear. "I was watching you before I met Chance."

"I'm flattered," she smiled, turning to kiss him softly. "Even so, you did the right thing - and I'm thankful you did, at least. After all," she smirked, "you've pulled my tail out of trouble almost as often as I've gotten into it."

That turned him serious for a moment and he tipped her brown furred face up to meet his gaze. "It's not flattery, you are kin to me and that is one of the great bindings that holds the Immortal world together. We train the young, take care of them until they are ready to go out on their own."

She blinked at that, looking at him as she tried to make sense of that. "What? Are you saying that I'm...."

"Like me." He nodded slightly, watching her carefully. "Yes."

"And nobody ever notices this, before they get killed? I know I haven't ever showed up with anything too strange in physicals, except ... well, you know about that," she said with a slight blush.

"We're sterile after our first death, but that you are before is unusual." Jake told her softly. "And nothing shows up because physically you are a very normal member of your species until that first death. Immortality isn't a genetic thing. It's a spirit and power thing. We still don't know why someone is born Immortal or not, it doesn't run in bloodlines or upbringing, but an Immortal can tell one of our own, and whether you are still a mundane or not."

"It's strange to think that I'll be able to see a time when this is the sort of history I've been trying to learn," she said quietly. "Any rules against asking if I know any, besides you?"

"Yes," he murmured with a light hug. "You won't meet any but your teacher, me, until I'm sure you can handle things. In taking you as my student, I've taken responsibility for you as well. Not just your actions, but for dealing with the fallout if things go badly."

"All right," she nodded, hugging him back. "Any other rules I should know about? Besides the obvious, of course: no telling anybody. I don't want to wind up getting you in trouble if I can help it."

"Try _not_ to get killed." He chuckled softly. "It's much cleaner to go with the ceremony if it's possible. That and you really should set up your disappearance better than I just did. Within the next decade or so you should prepare to leave with me for a while."

"I think I can handle the first one," she chuckled. "After all, I've done a pretty good job of staying alive so far. As for a disappearance - I think that can be arranged, especially since I'm beginning to get the feeling the people who sign the checks are more surprised when I _do_ come back than they would be if I didn't," she said with a chuckle.

"I was thinking more of a retirement disappearance than a 'don't come back' one," he chuckled softly. "Unlike me, there is little reason you couldn't leave. To a better offer even. After all, what better way to learn about the past, than by studying with someone who was there."

"That would work too - retire, head off somewhere obscure to do some private research, and fade away, something like that?"

"That's the basic concept," he nodded. "You have the time and position to arrange for everything, and not lose what you have in this life. Since you aren't going to die, you won't have to worry about getting your will and estate sorted out just yet. It can be a real headache."

"I'll bet it is," she nodded. "I guess that 'quiet' job of mine is finally going to pay off, isn't it?" she chuckled.

"They are a plus," he nodded. "Government jobs aren't very good ones. They want too much accountability. But you can pull it off. But it won't be long before you won't need to work at all."

"One of the training conditions, or just a different definition of 'long,' since I don't see myself becoming independently wealthy all that soon with this job."

"I'll teach you how to set up trust funds, alternant identities and all the other paperwork to handle that. Your job isn't what brings you money, it's the investments."

"And here I thought I'd gotten away from finance once I was out of college," she grumbled good-naturedly, nuzzling his neck while he held her gently.

"Most of us don't really handle our own. There are people who make their living investing for the rest of us. I use them a lot. Once you get corporate level, it's very easy to be a silent partner."

"And it lets the money do some good for other people too," she smiled. "You know, I knew life was going to be weird when I started dating you, but this wasn't exactly what I'd been expecting."

Jake simply laughed lightly. "It'll get much stranger before you get used to it. Have you handled a sword before?" He asked seriously.

"Not seriously," she said, shaking her head slightly. "And not at all in a long time."

"That will have to change," he said softly. "It's the primary drawback to our existence. We have to fight to keep it."

"Other creatures, or other Immortals? I'm guessing it's not about dealing with normal people, since they don't know about ... us," she said, thinking it through. "And you wouldn't have to use a sword with them, either."

"No, you don't." He nodded. "As my last career demonstrated rather well. It's with other Immortals. It will make a lot more sense after your first death, but it is for power. We fight for the power that allows us to exist, perform magic and other things. Fight and permanently kill."

"Is there any need to do this for more than defensive reasons," she asked quietly. "I don't think I like the idea of spending the rest of my life - however long that might be - hunting down people who haven't necessarily done anything to deserve it. I understand needing to know to protect myself," she added quickly, "but is anything beyond that necessary."

"No, it's not required, but you will be challenged once you are no longer my student. It's one on one only too. Winner takes all. You don't _have_ to permanently kill a challenger to win, but you will find it is very difficult once the challenge has begun to stop yourself. There are places in the world that also prevent challenges. I will show you all of them. If you are hunted or challenged and can get onto Sanctuary Ground, it is over. No one fights there, for it takes the power of the winner as well as the loser."

"That would be a very good thing to know," she nodded. "If they're trying to kill me, that's one thing. I'd have to be an idiot not to learn how to fight back," she chuckled a little grimly. "How - how have you handled it?"

"The Challenges?" He looked at her. "I fight. I've gone through hunter phases too, and I will hunt down real troublemakers, but usually I just take out who challenges me and leave everyone else be. That most of those alive and dead trace their training back to me doesn't hurt my status any."

"No, I imagine it wouldn't," she agreed. "They'd have to be suicidal to try taking on somebody who has probably seen every trick they know, and has more up his sleeve. Are there any other particular ways to be killed I have to be on the lookout for, other than Immortals? I mean, if you can survive what happened with the jet, there probably isn't too much, but it would be something to keep in mind."

"There is only one way to die for good, and that's beheading by another Immortal or creature that can absorb the energy." He said softly. "Even a regular beheading won't work, though like being disintegrated or splattered like I just was, it'll take time to recover from. How long is based largely on how much power you have in your soul. If you'd taken the kind of damage I did in the crash, it would take you years to wake up again."

"You'll be glad to know that I don't plan on testing that, if I can avoid it," Abi chuckled slightly. "But it's good to know. Anything else I should know now?"

"A great deal," Jake chuckled softly. "Most of my students stay with me for at least a couple centuries as _students_. There will be time for it all."

"I was thinking more about things for the first day," she chuckled. "If you could teach me everything I'll need to know in the first few minutes, then you would _seriously_ need to reconsider your career choices. And I have to admit, I can think of a few worse ways to spend a couple centuries than working with and learning from you," she smiled.

"This isn't technically your first day, Abi." He turned serious. "You haven't experienced your first death yet. I didn't intend to die quite this soon."

"No," she said quietly, "I don't imagine you did. So the idea is to live life normally, then start learning about this after I die the first time? Or is it just that plans have to be changed now?"

"Normally, you aren't told anything until after your first death, so your first life is as normal as possible. Circumstances have changed timing a little, but a couple weeks won't alter the big picture much. And no, you don't have to retire in two weeks, that's just the best timing for the ceremony."

"Normal and MegaKat City don't often meet," Abi chuckled slightly. "Were you planning on 'dying' sometime soon already?"

"Very true," he smiled softly. "Not for a couple decades, but as soon as I realized the kind of job I was getting involved in I had contingencies in place to handle just what's happened."

"Makes sense," she said with a slight sigh and pressed against his strong side. "It's really surprising you two managed to last as long as you did, thinking about it."

"That comes mostly from the fact that I use a hell of a lot of tricks and things that don't exist anymore." He shook his head slightly. "It's about to get very nasty though. This fight is no longer just a mortal squabble. Many of those Omegas are supernaturals, my turf. And this city is _mine_." He growled softly.

"And the other supernaturals in the city just don't care? Or are they just in denial? I have a hard time believing they'd be willing to let things like the Pastmaster just keep on going without a fight - it doesn't make sense."

"Most aren't in tune enough with the mortal world to care, many of the others simply don't have the resources to deal with them without coming into light, something they'd rather see the city fall than do." He shrugged. "Most of the really powerful creatures don't live in cities, don't care about cities, or even actively dislike them. Even those of us who do, twenty years is a _very_ short time to most us, a few hours in your life, if that. I was born before _language_ existed, Abi. I may be one of the oldest creatures on this planet, but I'm far from the only one who regularly doesn't look up from a project for a couple centuries or more."

"I guess I just have a hard time seeing how somebody could have the power to help, but not be willing to," Abi sighed. "It'll make sense eventually, I'm sure - just probably not too soon."

"Probably not." He murmured gently. "Understanding some of their outlooks takes a lot of work. But for most who would, haven't you ever missed a meal because you got absorbed in some project?"

"Yeah," she admitted, relaxing slightly. "I guess you're right. Still, large chunks of the city exploding seem like they'd be a little harder to ignore, unless you weren't there."

"You've done it," he pointed out with a tap on her nose. "More than once I've come from a battle to check on you to find you in your lab completely oblivious to the fireworks."

"Point made," she admitted with a slight sigh. "Just seems strange yet, to think of being able to ignore that much going on around you for that long a time."

"You'll get it. After a couple millennia, ten or twenty years can pass by in a breath." He chuckled knowingly. "But one of these days I'm going to take you on a proper world tour. The kind that takes a century or two. It's the best way to see the beauty of the world."

"Just be careful taking me around historical sites on that tour," Abi smirked. "Or I might get it a lot faster than you'd like."

"Historical is _so_ relative," Jake laughed and kissed her gently. "Is it really historical when your tour guide saw it built?"

"It is when you're tour guide has several centuries on you," Abi smirked, returning the kiss. "As long as _you_ haven't seen it built too."

"Then we're going to have a _very_ long tour." He chuckled and relaxed against the plush couch. "Of course, once you're caught up, then I get to go back to exploring."

"Exploring?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, exploring. The universe. You realize by the time I've shown you around Aristal and you don't need my protection anymore there will be a well established space program going."

"You're right," she said, a little surprised to think of it that way. "And all the time you could want to explore - even if you don't think of all the ways the world itself will have changed in that time."

"Well, the trick with the tour is to not get too out of touch with the modern world. In these days, that's actually important." He smiled and nuzzled her gently. "Unlike the most of history where you could let millennia pass and not miss more than a couple name changes on the rulers."

"And today, you'd be lucky if the language was close enough to the same for you to recognize it," she smiled, relaxing into the contact and nuzzling him back. "I think that's why I like old things. They'll stay the same from one day to the next, barring lunatics trying to use them to take over the city."

"I like the change, the technology and things moving fast." He smiled and nuzzled her supportively. "But that's me. Most prefer things the way they were, before jets and telephone and computers."

"Well, that far I wouldn't go," Abi admitted. "At least not for more than a season or two. But I think I can see where they'd be coming from. A lot of people talk about how they preferred simpler times. They're just usually talking about twenty years ago, instead of a hundred."

"Or five thousand, which is who I usually hear it from." Jake snickered softly. "I hear no end of bitching because of the extent that I've cultivated technology and change over the years."

"They have no right to complain if they aren't living in the middle of nowhere during the worst weather it has to offer at the time, with nothing more than a tent," Abi chuckled. "I know that's changed the tune of a few of my colleagues before."

"True, though it doesn't get to many of mine." He laughed and tipped her chin up for a lingering kiss tinged with desire. "They only see how much harder it is to get servants, power and disappear when they want, or do what they want when they want. I may miss it a bit, but I like the perks more."

"Good to know," Abi purred back, returning the kiss eagerly and putting her arms around him. "Sweet Bastet I've missed you."

"It's very mutual," he murmured after another kiss and guided her gently to her back on the couch. "I will have to introduce you to her one of these days. I think you'll like each other."


	2. Trees of Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With her first questions asked, Abi spends some time in Jake's library.

"Looking for anything in particular?" Jake's tone was distinctly amused as he came into his library to find Abi snooping around in fascination at books older the known civilization.

"Hmm?" The brown-furred she-kat looked over at him from one of the shelves. "Oh, not really," she chuckled. "Just seeing what you've got here, mostly - after all, what's the good of being a kit in a candy store if you don't know where the good stuff is?"

"Very little," he chuckled and drew her into a loose embrace against his chest. "You'll probably have more luck understanding the other side." He nuzzled her and pointed to the part of the library that wasn't as well filled in. "I organized them chronologically."

"You're probably right," she smiled, nuzzling him back. "Somehow though, I seem to be getting slightly distracted."

"Mmm, yes, and you have no need to hurry to learn it all." He chuckled softly.

"So," she purred, "did you just come down here to distract me, or is there something we need to be doing that I'm not aware of?"

"Neither," Jake chuckled softly next to her ear. "Kari mentioned you were rummaging around in here. I thought you might appreciate a pointer to the books in a language that's still known to exist."

"Mmm, but that takes all the challenge out of it," she said with a playful pout, turning to kiss his cheek. "Next thing you know, you'll be telling me to start with the languages I actually know."

"If you aren't going to have a translator helping out, it would improve understanding." He chuckled deep in his chest. "Though I image you can get a fair amount out of the illustrations, even the ones from before I was any good at it."

Abi chuckled as she thought about that, and realized that the reason most of the books looked like journals was because they probably were. "So this room has a couple thousand years of your diaries in it? That could be dangerous reading."

"Closer to a couple million," he chuckled with a slight smirk. "Though I doubt you'll be able to figure any of it older than a few thousand out."

"Oh, ye of little faith," she smirked back. "Unless there's no way to trace the languages back through the books, I'll find a way. It might take time, but I'll figure it out eventually, given the chance. But I think you'll wind up re-writing most of the history books by the time I'm finished, if your past lives were anything like as strange as your current ones."

"What I've seen and know would," he nodded seriously. "And the falsehood that is history has to be left largely as it is. There is little to prove what I know, short of pointing out that I was there, or I know, or _was_ , whoever is in question. And I'll teach you the other mortal languages, in time."

"There is that point, true," she nodded. "I wasn't really thinking of making any of it public. It's just a matter of wanting to know the truth myself. It's kind of mind-boggling, to think of so much I've been working with for my entire career could be so far off base."

"Well, the little bits and pieces you have do rather well for guesswork." Jake murmured softly and kissed her. "It's what's recorded in the commoner history books that has the really big lies in it."

"Which was written by my colleagues and teachers," she sighed slightly, snuggling back against him. "Still, I can see the reason for a lot of it. It'll be interesting to think of what MegaKat City's history will look like, a few hundred years from now."

"Very messy." Jake shook his head. "It's very unlikely the city will survive another century."

"Not without something changing drastically, no," she agreed with a sigh. "And that was before SWAT went down. I just hope it dies when people decide to go elsewhere, instead of violently."

"I've only known that to happen four times with a population greater than five hundred."

"Doesn't keep a girl from hoping," she sighed again. "Still, assuming this part of history holds, there's the possibility that people will start to move out when things start getting too bad. It's better than what could happen if the entire city were destroyed at once."

"If this isn't bad, Abi, nothing will convince them of it." He told her gently. "I've seen burnt earth warzones that didn't get hit this hard."

"And they're just too stubborn to leave, or spread out," she sighed. "It's just screwed up."

"Yes, it is, and they are." He nodded softly and pulled her gently against his chest. "It's something mortals are very good at though, surviving in impossible situations."

"When you've only got so much time, or only think you do, you want to drag it out as long as you can," she nodded, turning around in his arms to hug him herself.

"I know," Jake murmured into her hair. "I have this bad habit of falling for mortals. It makes me want to too."

"I don't know that I'd call it a bad habit," Abi smiled. "Up until the other day, I figured we both made habits of it."

"Yes, but _I_ know how it's going to end." His face softened with sadness as intense as any she'd seen. "Many of my students don't like to talk to me for a century or two after the funeral."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I forgot, you've had to watch a lot of them go, haven't you?"

"Two thousand, three hundred and six, including Chance." He murmured painfully.

"I'm sorry," she said, hugging him as supportively as she could as the library fell silent for a very long time while Jake settled his pain back into a manageable level.

"Drinks, my Lords?" A soft female voice broke the tension when things began to get seriously depressed.

"Yes, I think so." Jake murmured and turned to claim one of the thick ceramic mugs from her tray and sipped its fragrant, steaming contents as he regained his composure a bit.

"Are you going to be okay, Jake?" Abi asked quietly, concerned for him as she took a mug for herself and sipped the unusual blend of chocolate and spicy apple cider.

"In time," he nodded, the liquid having a visibly relaxing effect on him as he guided her to one of the plush leather couches in the grand room. "Being in love doesn't require sex being involved." He murmured with another sip and pulled her gently against him. "Knowing it'll end too soon doesn't help much when it's time to say goodbye."

"I didn't realize how much Chance meant to you," she said softly, kissing his cheek gently. "I shouldn't have said that before."

"Said what?" He glanced at her curiously as his breathing finally settled and he began to drink for the taste of the warm, soothing liquid.

"When we were talking about this, the attitude I had." She took another sip of the liquid, relaxing some herself. "I didn't realize how much you were hurting."

"Oh," he murmured, nodding slightly. "I guess I'm holding it together for now. Duty tends to help me focus."

"If you need to let it out once in awhile," she said softly, "I'm here for you."

"Thanks," he managed to smile slightly and pulled her close for a long, silent moment as he settled.

"After everything you've done," Abi said quietly, nuzzling him gently, "and are doing, for me, it's the least I can give back to you."

Jake nodded and nuzzled her, pulling her close to him with a soft sigh as they relaxed into the silence and close contact with the sent and warmth of the chocolate spiced cider in their noses.

* * *

Several days and many of Jake's more recent journals later, Abi came out to find him sitting in the gardens. His fur was the brindle of his life as the techno-industrialist Jake Terrimy Kindar, dyed while she was busy in the library. She sat down nearby, watching him perform a tightly controlled but flowing kata with a beautifully crafted sword nearly as tall as he was for a few moments before it ended and he focused his attention on her.

"Mind answering a few questions for me?" She asked as he stepped up, shaking off the foreign martial arts master persona, though still completely relaxed about his nudity.

"Not in the least." Jake smiled softly and settled next to her in the glorious morning sun. "I am your teacher."

"Just wanted to be sure I wasn't interrupting your workout," she smiled softly. "You look incredible doing that, by the way."

"Thank you," he smiled slightly. "What made you curious enough to get out of the library?" He teased her lightly.

"Mostly, I wanted to know more about the four types of immortals you mentioned in your journals."

"Mmm? Oh, it's nothing official, just my shorthand." He chuckled lightly.

"I see," she nodded. "So it's not clans of some sort, just your terms for immortals with particular philosophies?"

"Pretty much," he nodded. "We aren't organized like that, into clans or families. Though some loyalty tends to stay between student and teacher and politics can get complex with how long we live. I've just found most tend to fall into one of those basic patters, and two others you haven't seen yet." He chuckled softly. "I've noticed six in all."

"What are the other two? I've seen warriors, diplomats, defenders, and ones who don't want to get involved - most of whom you don't seem to be too crazy about. The others?"

"There's Trani. The inventors, explorers and scientists like you, and me to a lesser extent. And Sen." His voice softened and gaze went a bit distant. "The ones who can't adapt to what they are. They don't tend to last long."

"Are there many who can't cope?" she asked softly.

"Thankfully not." He let out a slight breath. "Whatever makes us immortal, what powers our healing, is very rarely present in those that can't cope with the concept. Many of them are those who have done fine for centuries or millennia and have had time and events wear them down."

"That would be a problem, yes," she said, nodding slightly. "Good that it doesn't happen often, though it still sounds like it's too often for your tastes."

"Knowing someone for so long, training them to fight and survive and the ways of the world for centuries," he said softly and shook his head. "As painful as it is to lose Chance or a mortal lover, losing an Immortal one to something I may have been able to prevent ...." his voice trailed off painfully.

Abi reached out and put an arm around him supportively, nuzzling him gently. She didn't really know what to say, but she knew she could do that much for him as he relaxed and let the pain pass again.

"I'm not this mullein normally," he made a strange chuckling sound after a few moments. "Shy's going to have a fit when she finds out I took on a student just after losing someone."

"It's a side of you that probably needs a little more airing out that you give it," Abi said softly, hugging him close. "Who's Shy?"

"One of my oldest surviving students," he smiled fondly. "And as much my opposite as anyone I get along with. More than a few refer to us as 'the old married couple'." He chuckled softly.

"A very old one, I would imagine," Abi chuckled, smirking slightly as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek that he turned into to make a gently passionate one.

"Yes, very old. Shy was my third student," he murmured with gentle fingers tracing her cheek. "And not one I'm involved with right now. We have a hierarchy of import. Mortal partners, students, other immortals."

"The ones you have the least time with first," she said softly, with a small nod, before returning the kiss with the same passion. "I'm hardly jealous, Jake," she smiled.

"And those that need us the most," he smiled slightly as they parted a bit. "Shy's no doubt biting at the bit to meet you."

"Anything in particular that has to be done before that's okay," she asked curiously.

"The ceremony and enough time that I'm sure you can defend yourself on a basic level. Until I introduce you to the world you are completely off limits for a challenge, and aren't considered one of us yet. It's best equated to the kitten stage. They have extra protections, but limited freedoms."

"All right," she nodded. "It makes sense. Gives the person with the most experience and knowledge of the situation the control over when things start to move normally."

"Something like that," he chuckled. "Mostly it's a protection against those with fewer scruples."

"Are there many who make a career out of preying on the younger ones?"

"Too many, probably more since I haven't been actively hunting them for most of a century." He sighed softly.

"You can only do so much, Jake," Abi said quietly. "It's not too surprising, really, it seems to be a constant among people, no matter what type they are. There are always some who think being stronger makes everybody else meaningless."

"And the other constant, there is _always_ someone stronger, faster, better, than you are." He chuckled dangerously. "Though it's been an admittedly _very_ long time since anyone came close to being able to challenge me."

"Those who are, probably don't want to take the chance that their luck won't hold out throughout the fight," Abi smirked.

"That and they all know me well enough from their student days to know that I _never_ teach all my tricks." He chuckled a bit. "I have to keep some surprises in reserve, after all."

"Well of course," Abi chuckled. "Between the ones you keep back, and the new ones you probably keep coming up with, I'd be surprised if anybody was that suicidal."

"That's the impression I try to remind everyone of," Jake smirked. "It keeps most the challenges at bay, and I like it that way. I may be very good at it, but I lost my taste for killing a long time ago. The rush can be addicting for many younger Immortals though."

Abi shook her head at that, sighing slightly. "That's something I hope I never have to deal with. The idea of enjoying killing anybody just doesn't sit right."

"No addiction is right, Abi." He murmured gently. "And they all hurt. It is a reality though. The rush of taking a Quickening is very addictive. It's something that cools with age, and power. I don't feel it much simply because none who are powerful enough to be near my power fight me. For a new one like you, any kill is an experience little can match."

"I'll have to learn to deal with it then," she said. "I don't suppose you'll have any advice for when the time comes?"

"Honestly, very little. You know it's coming, the most you can do is try not to find it pleasurable. That you don't have a very aggressive personality will help you. Those who have the hardest time are those who find power in other forms attractive. If someone like Dark Kat was immortal, he would be at extremely high risk, even if he did value the lives of others."

"Which he doesn't, except for how they can be used to help him get more power," Abi nodded, shuddering slightly at the thought. "That's the sort of person who shouldn't have as much power as he does, let alone more."

"There are advantages if he was Immortal," Jake sighed softly. "For one, he's _really_ have pissed off several of us by now. For another, I'd have challenged him long ago."

"And you can't do that with a mortal," Abi asked, "or he just wouldn't have to accept?"

"He'd never accept it. As an Immortal, the lure of gaining my power, or anyone of the first few generations, would be more than enough to draw him out."

"He'd never fight fair, though," Abi pointed out. "What are the rules about challenges, aside from sacred places being off limits? Or is that something for later on?"

"It's one on one only, no ranged weapons beyond a throwing knife. Modern body armor is considered poor form, but it's allowed. We'd have a rule about no ambushes, but we can sense each other at a range where it's moot."

"Any rules about having to accept them? Except, of course, for the possibility that they'll go after you anyways if you turn them down?"

"You don't have to accept a challenge, no, the majority consider it fair game to start a fight once it's been announced, so you'd have to escape. The only thing with an unaccepted challenge is that you can get help from a friend in escaping. And someone can step in and take your place. Sort of a counter-challenge. Generally speaking, if you're challenged, you'll have to fight and kill." He explained gently.

"It's a good thing to know, though," she nodded, accepting it. "As far as making challenges - they don't have to be made, right? It's not necessary to fight another Immortal to sustain yourself, just for defense, and gaining their power?"

"As far as anyone's figured out, no, it's not necessary. It's just common." He nodded and stroked her cheek. "The disadvantage of not fighting very often is that you very quickly lose you skills. It takes a great deal more practice to keep your skills up than it does if you actually use them."

"I understand," she said, nodding. "I should be able to handle it. I just don't like the idea of having to make a career out of it."

"No, no career." He smiled and kissed her gently. "And your first few centuries should be quiet as even the less than honorable hunters steer clear of anything with my name attached to it, be it a territory, mortal or student. Though it makes you more attractive for the really delusional ones that think they can make me throw a fight."

"That's good," she smiled, kissing him back. "And I'm assuming I don't have to tell you not to do that."

"I wouldn't have lasted this long if I was capable of throwing a fight, for any reason." He nodded grimly. "It's simply not in me to surrender."

"It's one of your better features, I've always thought," she smiled at him. "And it's a possibility I'll keep in mind. I don't like the idea of anybody trying to use me against you, now or ever."

"No one has tried in a couple millennia, but it's bound to happen again." Jake sighed softly. "Especially as I start hunting again, and go after Omegas. They don't fight by our rules."

"And with any luck," Abi said quietly, "they won't know enough to know how to kill either of us. Are any of the Omegas Immortals?"

"None that I've gotten close enough to to sense," he shook his head. "But I'm sure there's at least one. The odds are just in it."

"And Murphy's Law dictates that he'll be the first one to try pulling something like that," Abi sighed. "I just hope it's not many. I could see somebody wanting to take advantage of it, though."

"The good part is that anything but a normal challenge invites me to cheat as well." He grinned predatorily. "And I will use whatever resources I have to get things to work the way I want them when it's not an honorable fight to start with."

"This is why I never want to be on your bad side," Abi chuckled, nuzzling him affectionately. He smiled at her for a moment and tipped her face up for a slow, lingering kiss.

"It isn't a good place to be, for anything."

"Especially not when your good side is so much more fun," she purred, kissing him again as his hands moved down her sides to loosen her blouse.

"There is that too." He purred softly and willingly submitted to the interest his body had in her.


	3. Facing Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abi goes back to work and things settle into a form of normal, until one day she opens her office door to something she's been told about but is not really prepared to face.

When she opened the door to her office at the MegaKat Museum of Natural History Dr. Sinian's nose was assaulted by the metallic scent of blood heavy in the air. A quick glance spotted the open window with bright red smears and the heavy trail of it leading to the small room off her office that contained a bed and half-bath.

She closed the door behind her quickly, glad that she was the only person there. She pulled out her cell phone as she walked towards the other room, praying it wasn't as bad as it looked. She took a short detour to stop at her desk and pull out a small pistol, in case whoever was there didn't want to be found and was in a shape where they could do something about it.

Again it was her nose that told her both her hopes and worst fears were what happened. Part of her mind was curious that of all the emotions mixed in with the near-death and blood, fear wasn't one of them.

She opened the door to the bathroom, swallowing the lump in her throat as she saw the bloody, burned and badly broken body crackling with bright blue energy. She keyed in the special number he'd given her on the cell phone as she moved over to him, slumped over in the small shower and clearly dead beyond the healing power dancing all over him trying to put his right again.

"Where is he?" An utterly calm and collected female voice requested on the phone.

"In a side room off my office at the Museum of Natural History," Abi responded, her voice much calmer than her head was at the moment as she watched the unnatural display start to piece her boyfriend back together in an agonizingly slow process.

"We will be there shortly." Kari said along with the sounds of movement and quick orders. "How much clean up will there be?"

"Quite a bit," Abi said quietly. "Nothing outside the office that I've seen, but there may be a trail leading here, to judge by the amount of blood inside. It looks like he died just a little while ago, and he's in very bad shape, but healing."

"Then he still has his head, good." The shekat sounded decidedly relieved over the rev of an engine.

"Yes, he does," Abi nodded, not quite as relieved by the fact, but trying to remember that it meant he would come through this. "Though it's about the only thing that seems to be in one piece."

"As long as it's still there, the rest will grow back in a day or two, at most." Kari assured her. "If he managed to make it all the way to the bathroom, then he's not nearly as badly injured as a few months ago."

"I know," Abi said. "There's just a difference between knowing it's happened before, and watching it happen here."

"The first few times are always stressful." She assured her gently. "If you can take a few days off, it would probably be a good thing."

"I should be able to do that," she said with a nod. "How long before anybody will be here, and is there anything I have to do before you arrive?"

"About ten more minutes." Kari reported after a minor pause. "You should stay calm, and do whatever will make you feel better. If you can arrange it, you can come with us when we take him back to the manor."

"Nobody else is in, I'll just leave a message that I'm taking a few personal days. After the last couple weeks, they'll probably think it's about time," Abi chuckled weakly.

"No doubt," the other female's soft voice held a warmth and understanding of personal knowledge. "Just hold on. We're almost there."

"Thank you," Abi said. "I'll be ready," she added, hanging up and trying to think of something other than the unnatural spectacle of the body in the room.

* * *

About half an hour later, Abi was sitting in a still room, watching Jake's body slowly repair itself. Kari was in the room too, but it was otherwise empty.

"How long have you known Jake?" Abi asked quietly, breaking the near-silence for the first time since they'd returned with him.

"All my life," the shekat smiled. "My family has served him since before time was counted."

"Repaying favors, or does the family just enjoy serving him?" Abi asked, looking over at the creamy marmalade tabby curiously.

That made Kari pause a moment before she found an answer. "We have always served him." She explained quietly. "He has always been good to us."

"That sounds like him," Abi smiled slightly. "If I start getting too nosy," she added, "feel free to tell me so."

"I will." Kari smiled in promise. "I do remember when he told us about you, and your curiosity."

"Of all the vices I could have," Abi chuckled, "I had to choose one that was perfectly legal, but still has a good chance of getting me killed one of these days. At least to quote a couple of my professors. Does your entire family serve him, or only some?"

"Only a few of us do directly," she smiled with real pride. "Others handle his interests as part of their lives on the outside or care for the next generation."

"Are there other families like this? Or is yours more of an exception?"

"Some Immortals have similar arrangements, particularly the older ones like Tyr. Most don't though." She explained softly. "We've also accepted serving several of his students over the years."

"Though not the full support network, like I've seen here," Abi hazarded a guess.

"Few desire it," the pale marmalade smiled softly. "Tyr is an unusual soul in many ways. He likes the sense of a village having so many of us around gives him."

"I think living that long makes for unusual souls," Abi chuckled. "Jake's hardly normal by most standards."

"Even Immortal ones," Kari nodded softly, her gaze flicking over the still crackling body. "But then, he is far older than any of them."

"It's still strange, thinking of him as older than his thirties," Abi said, chuckling slightly. "But it does explain a lot about him, the way he acts. I wonder what he ran into out there, that managed to beat him like that."

"Dark Kat," she said softly, more than a little worry and a trace of disapproval in her tone. "He's a hunter again, until they are all dead."

"He went after Dark Kat _first_?" Abi asked, looking over at Kari, her surprise evident in her voice and expression. "He's lucky he managed to get away," she said after a moment, looking back at Jake's body.

"There are some personal issues there," she murmured softly. "Very personal. He still has emotions, you know. They do to him what they do everyone."

"I know," Abi sighed. "They can run away with any of us, if they're strong enough. I guess I'm just surprised he doesn't take his own advice."

"Chance's death has hit him harder than most. I'm just glad he didn't focus his wrath on the other target he tends to rant about." She said softly. "It could be much worse. This he'll recover from."

"Feral," Abi guessed quietly.

Kari nodded simply. "He really does hate that kat for the pain Chance went through. I think the only reason he hasn't killed him by now is that he actually does do a good job overall, and cares about the city."

"I just hope that keeps being enough. The city doesn't need to have the problems losing Feral would create, to say nothing of the fact that I don't know if Jake would come out of it in one piece. Do you know if this happens to him often?"

"Letting his temper get the better of him?" She glanced up. "Vary rarely. I think it has been several centuries at least."

"Probably for the best," Abi murmured. "Seeing what it seems to do to him, I don't think he could take it too much more often."

"No, and from the stories, he tends to wake up back to himself, if a bit cold and calculating where his target is concerned."

"I don't think he's been anything but that for a long time when it comes to Dark Kat - maybe he'll move him further down the hit list, though. Unless... do you think it's possible he took down Dark Kat before he came to my office?"

"Quite possible," Kari nodded. "Even enraged he is very deadly. Particularly when he does not have to appear mortal anymore. Tyr is quite a powerful mage in several fields among the physical combat skills he has built up over longer than kats have been kats. He has knowledge of things that not even his earliest students know."

"Let's hope he pulled it off, then. The last thing he needs to be doing is going right back out after him again."

"If a few more hours it will be as if nothing happened to him." Kari reminded her gently. "The healing energy has already settled a great deal."

"He is in much better shape than when I found him," Abi admitted. "All things considered, though, I'll hope that what you've heard is right, and he'll be a bit better settled when he wakes up."

"Just don't expect to talk him out of his hunting." She advised grimly. "It will only anger him, and be about as helpful as trying to talk him out of being Razor while T-Bone lived."

"I don't plan on trying that," Abi said, shaking her head. "Though if I can talk him into going after somebody he has slightly better odds against, assuming Dark Kat's still alive, I think it'd be best for everybody."

"It will only delay that confrontation," Kari shook her head. "And likely put it in view of Anne Gora and her cameras if Dark Kat moved before Tyr does. That would be truly disastrous."

"I suppose you're right," Abi sighed. "I just hope we're all lucky, and he finished it before he left. I can't imagine Dark Kat would be too eager to let him get away if he was in any condition to stop it, after all."

"And Tyr is even less likely to leave a mission undone." Kari nodded. "We will know soon. He should wake within the next hour."

"Is there anything that needs to be done before then? Or after he's conscious again?"

"Not particularly." She smiled reassuringly and stretched upwards. "He will want to bath himself and eat. Much of the rest will depend on just what happened before he died. He may go out hunting almost immediately, or if Dark Kat is dead, he may settle for a few days to help you and plan his next strike."

"Which will almost certainly be easier, I hope. That is one advantage of starting with the biggest threat, everything else is at least a little easier, if you pull it off. You know, it's actually not as disturbing as I thought it would be."

"That is a good thing," Kira smiled gently at her. "If you can handle his extremes, the future looks good for you."

"Good to hear," Abi smiled slightly. "If there's one thing I've learned in MegaKat City, it's that extremes will happen eventually, and probably when you're least expecting them. This is unsettling, but I can handle it."

"That is good." She nodded approvingly. "Ah, welcome back, master." She greeted Jake's return to the living world over a full minute before Abi had clue he was with them again.

The brown-furred shekat was more hesitant herself, not entirely sure if he was back yet or not, but trusting Kari's greater experience.

"Jake?" she said hesitantly, her voice unsure.

"It will be a minute or two before he can answer, yet." Kari said gently as she poured a mug of fragrant juice and mixed several powders into it. "He is likely to want a bath before much of anything as well."

"Understood," Abi nodded. "It's good to have you back, Jake," she added softly, gently brushing his cheek with the backs of her fingers. It was more than a slight relief to feel him warm again, even more than when the blue energy had stopped dancing all over his body half an hour before.

"Hi," he murmured back, a bit groggy and with a decidedly unpleasant taste in his mouth.

"You going to be okay?" she asked quietly, letting out a breath as she heard him talking, and realized even without his answer that he would be.

"Yeah," he nodded and pushed himself up to reach for the mug Kari handed him automatically. "After I'm clean again."

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Jake's voice was soft, as was his touch, when he finally emerged from his shower some time later.

"A lot better, now that you're moving around again," Abi smiled, looking over her shoulder at him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," he smiled and nuzzled her neck gently with the embrace from behind. "I'm hard to keep down."

"Something we should all be grateful for," she purred, reaching back to put an arm around him. "You had me scared for a while back there."

"I'm sorry about that," he murmured softly and pulled her close against his chest. "It's something you're likely to get used to, eventually. It's pretty obvious when it's permanent and when it's just messy."

"It sounds like it," she murmured, nodding slightly. "It was mostly a gut reaction, but all the same, I'm going to hope neither of us has to go through it again any time soon. What happened out there? Kari said you were going after Dark Kat, but...."

"She told you correctly," he nodded against Abi's neck. "It was a tough fight, and he knew more about me than I would have liked."

"Did you manage to finish him off before you came to my office," Abi asked quietly, nuzzling him gently, "or are you going to be going back out after him soon?"

"I'm fairly sure I killed him," he murmured softly and kissed her neck. "So I'm just keeping an eye open while I hunt down the others. It's not like he can wait me out."

"Good," Abi said, letting out a small breath and turning in his arms to hold him, returning the kiss. "I was worried you were going to be going out over him again right away."

"Thankfully not." Jake smiled softly and pulled her tight. "And there won't be another fight that tough anytime soon either."

"I would hope not," Abi smiled, nuzzling his neck. "That is one advantage of taking him down first. I'll bet Feral's about ready to have kittens, though," she chuckled.

"If he ever finds out," he chuckled weakly before a soft sigh escaped and he guided her to the library. "It wasn't a very visible fight, thankfully. I have to be careful about that for at least a couple decades yet."

"In case somebody recognizes you," Abi asked and let him lead, "or because of how you're fighting?"

"Both," he nodded a bit as they settled on the couch and he pulled her close, burring his nose in her shoulder length brown hair. "Dark Kat is not a target I held anything back with, though I'm sure Shy will have a few words about it when she arrives to find I've already gone after him. She's not fond of my hunting habits."

"Of you going all out, or the targets you go after," Abi asked, snuggling up next to him and putting an arm around him with a soft purr as they relaxed against each other and he gently stroked her hair and back.

"Of my tendency not to wait for help when I should," he smiled with a gentle fondness for old memories of simpler times. "I got a lead and followed it, instead of waiting for her to get here."

"I can't blame her, but I think I understand why you didn't want to wait," Abi murmured, rubbing his side affectionately. "Dark Kat's not much for sitting in one place and waiting for people to find him, if nothing else."

"No, he's not. She'll understand why I did it. It just doesn't make her any happier about it." He chuckled softly as a low purr began to rumble in his chest. "It is true that it would have been much less dangerous with her here. She's a better mage than I am, among other things."

"And it has to be easier to handle any Omega, especially Dark Kat, with some help," Abi agreed. "It's a good sign that she'd be mad at you though," the shekat chuckled.

"Oh, it would be, I'm just impatient sometimes." Jake chuckled and hugged her tightly. "She does care. And not just because I teach her new tricks every time she comes around."

"It's one of your more frustrating endearing traits," Abi chuckled, turning to kiss him lightly. "Is she going to be coming by here some time in the near future?"

"I expect so. She'd have been on the move since she heard ... about Chance." He paused, letting the loss wash threw him. "She was probably out in the middle of nowhere to take this long."

"Not too hard to do," Abi said, hugging him comfortingly. "He'd be proud, Jake," she added softly as they lay on the couch, pressed close while he absently stroked her hair.

"I know," he murmured distantly, only just with her in the room. "He was a good kat." Jake sighed softly and closed his eyes. "As many times as I've had to do this, it never gets any easier."

"I don't think it's supposed to," Abi said quietly, holding him close. "It's okay, Jake."


	4. A Touch of Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abi finally works up the nerve to ask about death.

Jake and Abi were snuggled up against each other in bed one morning, two days after she'd found him in her office, when she worked up the nerve to ask him a question that had been bothering her since then.

"Jake," she asked softly. "What's it like, when you ... die, if that's really the word for it?"

"It's the same as for a mortal," he sighed softly and hugged her closely. "The difference is that after the darkness and sensory deprivation, you wake up, more or less whole. At least most of the time. A lot depends on just how you die."

"You're aware the whole time?"

"No," he shook his head slightly and rubbed her shoulder. "When your body is dead, you are out. Rather like being unconscious in a lot of ways. I can be extremely disorienting when you've been moved."

"I would imagine," she said quietly, rubbing his back. "I suppose I thought there would be something more to it. It sounds like it could be ... frightening," she added, after a moment of searching for the right word.

"It can be," Jake said with a gently reassuring kiss to her forehead. "It can also be a real relief. Especially after it's happened a few times and you know what's going to happen."

"How could it be a relief? Unless you mean that you know it'll stop hurting until you've woken up again."

"Just that," he chuckled softly. "Knowing you'll recover fully doesn't make pain any more pleasant to endure. For largely the same reason pleasure is still just as intense. Nerves don't deaden just because we're not mortal."

"I'd be surprised if it did help," Abi said with a slight smile. "Though it is odd that things don't fade over time. Or is that just the difference between boredom and something honestly being less intense?"

"That would be boredom," he chuckled softly and kissed her with a gentle nuzzle. "Learning how not to give into it is one of the most critical survival skills for an Immortal. It's very difficult to fight your best when you don't care."

"Hard to do anything your best when you don't care," Abi agreed. "Though somehow, I have a hard time imagining being bored in this city for any real length of time."

"True, though it can be very depressing, and that is just as bad," he murmured and let his eyes drift closed for a moment. "This isn't a place where it's easy to make any progress."

"That's bound to change eventually, Jake," Abi said softly, rubbing his back gently and felt his body gain more interest in her than the conversation.

"Eventually, everything does," he chuckled and ran a hand along her back in return. "A few centuries, maybe a millennia or two, and the city isn't likely to exist anyway."

"Certainly not in any form we'd recognize as MegaKat City," Abi agreed with a smile. "I have to admit, a part of me hopes that nobody finds historical records of what the city was like right now. I don't think the opinions formed would be very flattering ones," she chuckled.

"No, it's not likely," he agreed quietly. "Though unless you mean after all knowledge of the current civilizations have been lost, it's quite unlikely. How you keep records right now does make them very unlikely to survive such an event. Technology is so fragile in many ways."

"And books aren't really made to last anymore," she agreed with a nod. "Ironic, really. We've advanced so far, and we're probably the least likely to leave detailed records of our existence. Our urns and bones, and that's about it."

"Books were never really made to last," Jake chuckled softly and nuzzled her neck. "Not the plan-fiber kind anyway. Stone and metal are the way to go, or very good natural protection. Baked clay seemed to work well too. Mostly modern societies don't value things that last. It's a consumer society, and if something lasts, the company loses money on replacements."

"I suppose you're right," she said, returning the nuzzle affectionately. "At least that keeps down the odds of somebody mass-publishing something like the Pastmaster's spell book," she chuckled.

"Even if they did, it wouldn't be of any use," he smiled gently and kissed her. "For a spellbook to be a spellbook, magic must be used in both its construction and in setting the spells on paper. There is no way to mass produce such a thing."

"Not ones that powerful at least," she smiled, kissing him back and holding him close. "A very good thing, I'm sure, or we'd be overrun by would-be archmages in a matter of months."

"I don't even want to think about that," he shivered slightly. "Though thankfully the ability to use them is also limited to a relatively small part of the population. A part that is shrinking rapidly."

"Too bad there aren't more who are willing to use that sort of power to help the people," Abi sighed slightly. "I'm sure I'll understand eventually, but it doesn't say much that the ones who are willing to expose themselves are apparently only the ones who want to wreak havoc."

"Because the rest know the poor response of most cities to such power," he pointed out quietly. "The same reason the city can't know it has Immortal defenders. It's just not safe."

"But don't things like the Pastmaster already break that veil?"

"That strange creatures exist? Well, yes, but people have always believed that. The fact of the matter is that neither society nor law is prepared to deal with anything like me, much less some of the more unusual creatures as anything but an enemy. A few societies managed it, but definitely not this one. The only safe way to live is to stay out of sight as anything unusual."

"And people still think that being paranoid and reactionary is a good defensive measure," Abi sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just one of those things that I can understand logically, but it'll take a while to really get."

"It usually does, though you are lucky that you will always look normal."

"Definitely good," she agreed. "But ... if most don't look normal most of the time, then how could they hide so well that almost nobody knows about them?"

"A large part is being slightly careful and the fact that people don't generally see things they don't want to." He shrugged. "Even in this city, people are blind to most of what's around them. Many of the truly unusual creatures either do not interact with people much, staying in their own territories and among their own kind, or use magic to pass as a something fairly normal."

"Modern camouflage," she mused. "It certainly seems to work for them. Are there ever incidents when they're found out? Aside from the Omegas that make it on the news?"

"Sometimes," he nodded slightly. "Individuals find out, and they are dealt with to keep things quiet."

"Dealt with how?" Abi asked, fairly sure she probably wouldn't like the answer.

"Depends on what they found out and who knows about it." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "They may be sworn to secrecy, have their memories wiped out, killed, blackmailed into silence, discredited ... whatever works best in the situation."

"That better than what I'd expected to hear, honestly," Abi said quietly. "It's something you've had to deal with too often, isn't it?"

"Not nearly as often as many. I fit into society very well for having predated it," he sort of chuckled. "The Garou, Dragons, Vampires, Wraiths, Mages and more anti-social types have much greater trouble in these times when it's so hard to avoid mundanes. It much easier to keep a secret when you understand who you're keeping it from."

"Which is hard to do when you can't pretend to be them," she agreed. "Are any of the creatures of legend just legends? It sounds like they're all alive and well, after a fashion."

"Most, really." Jake smirked and kissed her nose. "The majority of mythical critters are exaggerations on existing beasts, or just long extinct, and a few mage-created one shots. Mundanes have truly amazing imaginations for things they only half see in the firelight. Of course, you haven't found a lot of them too. Quite a few aren't mythical or magical, just unknown."

"Well, that's a job for the biologists, once we figure out they're still breathing," Abi chuckled, shifting to kiss his lips softly and found the advance greeted with eager tenderness. "Not that I mind a little overlap," she said with a slightly teasing tone to her voice.

"A good thing, since you haven't had a lot of choice," he smirked and scritched her ear. "Pastie does tend to do all sorts of damage to the 'extinct' list."

"I wonder if he'll ever realize how good a living he could make just doing that for zoos," she chuckled with a smirk of her own, her ear flicking slightly as he scratched it. "Though I was thinking more about the fact that you're most definitely a blend between the two."

"He'll never learn," Jake laughed and shook his head. "It's not in his makeup."

"Oh well," Abi sighed, though not at all serious about the resigned tone to her voice. "Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll put his portal in the wrong place, and drop a gigasaurus on himself."

He snickered at that, then laughed out loud as the mental image formed more fully. "I might be able to arrange that."

"Probably the most fitting way for him to finally stop being a nuisance," Abi chuckled. "And probably one of the least dangerous," she added, nuzzling Jake gently.

"Nah, it wouldn't faze him. He's undead, remember?" He chuckled and kissed her between the eyes. "It'd just annoy him that much more."

"That'd be worth points on its own," Abi smiled. "Still, I think even the Pastmaster would have difficulty shrugging off a couple tons dropping on his head."

"Couple dozen," he corrected with a chuckle. "And there's no way he could shrug it off. Once it was moved, though, he'd just be annoyed."

"I guess it would take something like an exorcism to finish him off, then?"

"In a way," he considered it more carefully. "Though an exorcism is for possession, when there's a spirit in the body that belongs and one that doesn't. He's more in the realm of Necromancy and soul removal."

Abi nuzzled him lightly, thinking about that. "You're going to wait for your friend, Shy, to get here before you try taking him on, aren't you? I don't know much about that type of magic, but what I do know says it's usually anything but safe."

"I don't know enough about Necromancy to even try something like that," he shook his head and nuzzled her back reassuringly. "It's much easier to just obliterate his body anyway."

"Good," she said, relaxing again. "And yes, I imagine it would be. Wouldn't that require the use of magic to, most likely?"

"Magic, high tech, or a natural damage zone." He chuckled softly. "Anything that can reduce the body to ash or less would suffice. Magic is actually the hardest way, since he's protected himself very well against other mages."

"I'm afraid that's not a field I can help much with," Abi said, chuckling a little. "I'm sure you know what you're doing, though."

"I do have some resources in the area, yes." He grinned playfully. "At any rate, he's not around right now."

"Somehow, I think he'll wish that was still the case when he finally shows up again," Abi smirked, causing Jake to laugh brightly.

"Oh, definitely. He's going to choke when he finds out who Razor is."

"I take it he knows you from the past," Abi asked curiously. "Other than your little stint as Sir Razor?"

"We've met a few times," he shook his head. "Though he knows Tyr more by reputation than experience. This area hasn't been mine for all that long."

"Somehow, I think the look on his face when he realizes who you are would be worth seeing," Abi chuckled. "He definitely deserves whatever happens to him."

"You'll get pictures, promise." He smirked and kissed her nose. "Just don't try to see in person, okay? A first death by magic can really screw you up."

"I wasn't planning on it," she smiled, nuzzling his neck with. "Unless he decides to show up in the middle of something I'm working on and keeps me from getting out of the way again."

"Good, and he'd better pray he doesn't," Jake growled with flattened ears and a deep, protective rumble in his chest. "Or he's going to _hurt_ before he dies."

"Jake, it's nothing he hasn't tried before," Abi pointed out. "We'd probably all be better off just getting rid of him without stretching it out. He's harder to get rid of than a cockroach," she muttered.

"I know," he settled a bit. "I still want you as far from that battle as possible."

"That makes two of us," she agreed, hugging him. "I might have a penchant for getting into trouble, but I'm not Ann," she added, shaking her head slightly.

"Thank Bastet," he let a breath go. "You'd have given me heart failure years ago with that mentality."

"I'd have given myself heart failure," Abi chuckled. "I don't think there's anybody alive who's luckier than she is."

"Or tougher," he chuckled softly. "She's not a mundane. I'm not all that sure _what_ she is, but she's not normal."

"It wouldn't really surprise me that much," Abi agreed after a moment's thought. "Though I'd be surprised if she knew it herself. And I'm not sure if it'd be better or worse if she found out," she added with a chuckle.

"Worse," he smirked. "Definitely worse. If you think she's insufferable now, imagine what she'd be like if she _knew_ she wasn't just the luckiest person alive."

"I can't help but think the law of averages will catch up with her eventually," Abi chuckled, shaking her head slightly. "Just hopefully not in a way that's going to do more than knock some sense into her."

"It won't," he murmured sadly. "People like her and Chance just don't calm down willingly. They live fast and die young and relish every minute of it."

"You're right," Abi said quietly after a moment, nuzzling him gently. "But I don't know that they'd have it any other way, really, even if they knew how it was going to end up."

"Most of them know," he managed a small smile. "And relish in that. They get more out of their few decades than many Immortals get out of centuries. I know Chance got more living done in a year than most mortals do in a lifetime. He knew how it would go down, but it's who he was. He's miserable when he couldn't fly with that huge adrenaline load."

"And I think the fact that most people would have called him crazy for it just would have made him look for something flashier to do," Abi smiled fondly. "He was something else."

"Yes, he was, and most did," he chuckled weakly. "He loved it, showing off and showing them up. He made it easy to pull a lot of stunts, overshadowing me and the gear so much. I could never have brought so much of it to bear without such a flashy partner."

"I'm sure he'd have said the same, Jake," Abi smiled, nuzzling him gently. "If you hadn't kept improving things, he would have been stuck at the limits of what his gear could handle. You brought out the best in each other."

"Yes, I suppose we did. He gave me incentive to try new things too. He could always handle anything I managed to put together. He'll be my example of how mortals aren't just sheep for a long time."

"He'd be proud to know that, I'm sure," Abi smiled. "He was a lot of things, but never a sheep."

"No," Jake chuckled softly. "He was a hero."


	5. The Sky is The Limit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake's hunting has friends worried, but not as much as the Omegas are now that he's no longer alone in it.

"Tyr!" A sharp female voice snapped Aby's attention from Jake to a dark gray shekat with black patches that was approaching with the air of owning the place, and the deadly grace Jake only displayed when doing katas.

"Hi Sky," Jake grinned at the upside-down from where he was laying nude by the pool, sunbathing and trying to relax before his next hunt. "Where have you been?"

"Visiting Tellerin," oldest female Immortal shot back, her tail lashing, but her manner spoke of worry more than anger. "What were you _thinking_ going at that psychopath alone?"

"Just doing what had to be done." He shrugged, playing off the danger like he always did. Abi kept quiet for the time being; she could hardly disagree with Sky, after all. Either way, she had the distinct feeling that she wanted to avoid getting involved in this any more than she had to right now.

It was an effort not lost on Sky, who nodded at her with a slight chuckle. "I see _she_ has some sence still in her."

"She's Abi," Tyr nodded to his newest student-to-be.

"Ah, the one he's been fawning over for two decades." She chuckled and extended a hand to the brown shekat. "You're in for a wild ride."

"I've guessed that," Abi chuckled a bit, taking the offered hand and shaking it, more than a little surprised at the 'two decades' comment.

"Just don't take the screaming and swordplay between us too seriously." She advised with a wink. "We've known each other since before Kats were Kats."

"I'd kind of guessed," Abi smiled slightly. "I don't think Ja-Tyr would be quite this relaxed if that weren't the case."

"Either name is fine," he smiled up at her. "You'll hear quite a few more before you're on your own."

"Not _all_ of which are curses in various dead languages," Sky snickered and batted his ears. "You _realy_ need to give the hero business a break, though. You've got a student to look after now." She told him seriously.

"Technically, not yet."

"Don't give me that." She rolled her eyes. "Just because she's not dead yet."

"At least I'm not the only one saying it," Abi chuckled very slightly. "Maybe he'll listen to you better."

"Not likely," Sky huffed in mock rage. "He never listens to _anyone_."

"I'm the oldest genius hero alive," Jake shot right back with a teasing grin.

"See what I mean?" Sky rolled her eyes to the other female.

"Has he always been like this?" The brown-furred shekat smirked a bit.

"Long as I've known him," Sky smirked back. "Though admittedly that doesn't cover the first few millennia."

"And they wonder why I prefer _boy_ friends." Jake rolled his eyes at the pair.

"If they're any good, they worry about you just as much," Abi shot back good-naturedly. "You make being a worry-wart an equal-opportunity career."

"Yeah, but _they_ don't gang-harass me about it." He grumbled back and swung to his feet. "Since you're here, let's see what you've learned." He nodded at Sky, who drew a sturdy, slightly curved blade from somewhere and easily joined him on the sparing matt.

Abi settled back down on the couch to watch, reminding herself that this couldn't be the first time they'd done this, and the fact that they were both alive meant they knew how to spar like this without killing each other.

Her mind flashed back to watching him do katas, only now it was a pair in that fluid grace and superbly controlled form of attack and counter. Nothing she could think of truly put to words the grace and coordination the pair displayed.

All she _could_ say for sure was that it was even more entrancing with the both of them there, like the difference between watching somebody practice a waltz alone, and then dance with a partner.

"Dinner, ma'am?" Tamisk asked her politely.

"Oh!" Abi looked away from the sparring match with a start, recognizing the question and glancing at her watch with a surprised expression. "Didn't know it had been so long," she murmured. "Thank you... any idea how much longer they'll be at it? Feels rude to walk out on this."

"Likely a couple days," he smiled politely. "At least according to my grandfather's stories of her last visit."

"Doesn't matter what he's focused on," she chuckled fondly, glancing over at them. "I suppose dinner would be a good idea, thank you Tamisk."

"Would you like something light brought out, to continue to watch?" He offered with a smile and glance for the combatants. "It is quite amazing."

"I think so," she smiled. "And yes, they are. A little frightening to stop and think about, in a way, but quite amazing."

"Frightening, ma'am?" He regarded her and the display uncertainly.

"The idea of what either one of them could do in a fight where they meant business," she explained. "If they _were_ actively trying to kill each other."

"Ah," he nodded and smiled reassuringly. "It is true, though I find it more reassuring. I'm not sure what we would do if we lost him."

"You're right," she nodded with a smile of her own. "Something that, hopefully, won't happen for a long, long time, if ever."

"Yes," he smiled softly at her, once more more than a little relieved to be mortal and not have to worry about such things too much. "I will fetch your dinner."

"Thank you," she smiled, turning back to watch the two Immortals as he headed out. She was a bit surprised when Kari set up the small folding table and set the finger food meal out.

"I thought you might care to ask questions, now that she has returned." The creamy marmalade tabby smiled at her.

"Thank you," Abi smiled, nodding politely. "Seems like all I have these days are questions."

"That is normal for the first few decades," she smiled gently and settled down to watch the display as well. "It is quite a lot to take in."

"Very true. Sounds like Sky hasn't come by here for some time," she observed, wondering if Kari had met her before herself.

"I believe it has been almost two centuries since they were in the same home at the same time, but I have met her before." She nodded easily. "As the oldest of his surviving students and his heir, as much as Immortals have one, she comes by often. Which is to say at least three or four times a century." Kari chuckled softly.

"Hopefully not always under the same circumstances," Abi chuckled. "She sounded like she was going to kill him herself for going after Dark Kat alone, when she got here."

"I'm sure the thought crossed her mind," Kari chuckled and selected a slice of fruit for herself. "Actually, I'm quite sure she intended to at least pound him unconscious for it, but it would be bad to do that to him with his new student and lover watching."

"There were days I'd have helped," Abi admitted, taking some fruit and starting to eat. "Still, it looks like they're enjoying themselves more this way."

"Oh, definitely," she smiled warmly. "He does love to spar with his better students, and she is the best of them by far."

"She'd have to be," Abi smiled. "It looks like dancing as much as sparring, almost."

"This kind is," Kari smiled softly as she enjoyed the display. "When they aren't trying to kill, combat like this is more about balance and body control than anything."

"And they keep this up for days without taking a break?"

"The older ones can," she nodded. "It's a different kind of combat challenge. Not just style and skill, but of endurance. They are trying to outlast the other, without losing their skill level too much."

"Whoever gets tired first loses," she nodded slightly. "Do you know if they've ever hurt each other doing this? Not being able to kill each other easily...."

"Many fights end in death, just not the permanent kind." She nodded easily. "More in training than with where they are at, but it still happens."

"Good way to make sure you learn to protect yourself," Abi nodded, the idea still slightly unsettling to her. "Being killed when you screw up would probably encourage you to do it right after that better than just about anything else. Has he had any other students, while you've been with him?"

"No," Kari shook her head easily. "My family is long lived, but not nearly that long lived. His last student set off on her own more than a century ago. My mother remembers her, however."

"Doesn't take students often then," Abi nodded, blushing slightly.

"From what I understand, when he takes on a student, he commits several intensive centuries to them." Kari smiled gently. "He actually takes quite a few, given there is generally less time between students, than he spends with each."

"Most of his students must be very special people indeed," she smiled. "When he focuses on something, he doesn't stop until it's finished."

"When you have forever, time isn't as relevant as it seems to be to us." Kari chuckled softly. "After a few millennia, spending a century on something isn't that long. Or so I'm told."

"Which makes some of the things I've known him to do before make a lot more sense," Abi admitted with a chuckle of her own.

"Oh?" Kari raised an eyebrow. "He's known to play the mortal role very convincingly."

"I meant how he'd always get focused on something and not stop for days," she smiled fondly. "He was always surprised when somebody finally came around to snap him out of it too."

"Ah, that." She chuckled with fondness. "Yes, that is a very common tendency, for those who are creative in some way. I'm sure as much as he'll try to focus on you, there will be times you will have to get him out of his workshop the hard way."

"Assuming we don't manage to get lost in our respective parts of the house at the same time," Abi chuckled, rubbing her head sheepishly. "I've been known to do the same thing once in awhile."

"I have little doubt," the pale furred shekat smiled. "It is far from an uncommon trait among Immortals."

"I guess not," Abi nodded. "Though I can't imagine there are enough around that an uncommon trait would be far from unique."

Kari thought about it for a moment. "Compared to the number of mortals, no, there are not many. But that is still several thousand, with more born every century than die."

"Can't be that many born," Abi mused. "If there were, the world would almost have to know about them by now."

"Unlikely," she said softly. "Mundanes ... don't like to know the world if full of strange things. Between Garou, undead, mages, Immortals, ghosts, psionics, and the half dozen others I never remember, the supernatural population of Aristal is close to a billion. That does not count the resident aliens that fit in, just the ones that normally can't, like the 'taur races."

Abi blinked a few times, then shook her head. "Why do I have the feeling that the 'ancient legends' I've been studying at work aren't nearly as ancient as I thought they were? A billion... how could people _not_ have recognized it by now? That's nearly a tenth of the population!"

"Most blend in to an extent, but mostly it's just that people do not _see_ what they do not want to believe in." She shook her head. "Some Omega's break those rules, but the Veil as it's called, it quite potent."

"It must be... but why would it be stronger now than before? These days anybody claiming to be a vampire or something like that would be tossed in a madhouse. Before, it wasn't something daily, but creatures like that were seen by everybody...."

"It's simply how society developed." Kari shrugged. "If you believe, then you can see what's real sometimes. If you don't, you probably won't. Why mundanes chose to abandon magic and the full understanding for the half- truths of the current science, I'm not sure anyone knows, including those who lived threw it."

"And now almost all the magic that's left is in story books, and half-forgotten rituals," Abi said softly, shaking her head again. "Still ... to think that about one in ten of the people I know are something like that ... it's stranger than thinking that I might be one of them, really."

"In your case, it's probably almost all." She chuckled lightly. "Unusual people tend to attract more of the same. The percentage of supernaturals has got up a lot in the last three centuries, most of the growth in the last fifty. Why, nobody's even got a guess."

"World-wide, or localized?"

It's a world-wide phenomenon," she nodded easily. "But there are always areas of higher concentrations, be it because of a racial stronghold or a lay line, supernaturals gather for many of the same reasons animals and mundanes do."

"I wonder if it might be some sort of cycle," Abi mused, her mind turning on the subject already. "Jake could probably say for sure, of course, but there might be some pattern to it."

"Quite possibly," she nodded. "Though it's hardly the first time the racial balance has shifted, sometimes far more drastically, according to Tyr."

"Probably not," she admitted. "It would be stranger still if it had been. It just sounds like something that might have some sort of cause, historically. For it to be harder for normal people to notice them... us... and yet have more and more of them not to notice, it seems... counter-intuitive." She chuckled a bit. "I'm sorry, this is exactly why my professors only liked me for the first few weeks back in my classes."

"I expect Jake will be enthralled." She chuckled softly. "I'm honestly amazed you weren't snapped up by the Watchers long ago."

"The who?" Abi looked over, cocking her head curiously.

"Watchers. A group of mortals, mostly mundanes, who have this fixation on recording everything supernatural that goes on. Tyr has several assigned to him, though they seem to have the damndest time keeping track of him." She snickered softly. "You're very much their type."

"Anybody he doesn't want to follow him will have that problem," she chuckled. "And it sounds like they might be ... might have done some work for them before, for that matter, it would explain a few of my stranger projects being funded. Maybe they thought I didn't have enough of an interest in supernatural things that happen in the here and now," she half-joked.

"Oh, that's normal." Kari chuckled softly. "They're fixated on the past. On keeping records and filling in holes. They think they have the present quite well under watch."

"Ah well," Abi chuckled. "It's not really an issue now - I rather doubt they'd want one of the people they'll be trying to keep tabs on handling their research."

"No, though they'd have a collective coronary if they had a clue how many of us are in their ranks. Not just Immortals, but their mortal families." Kari chuckled. "We do like keeping tabs on the nosy ones."

"Who watches the watchmen," Abi smirked slightly. "Makes sense that somebody would want to make sure; if they know so much about the supernatural, one of them deciding to go public with proof could wreak a lot of havoc."

"Oh, they self govern on that quiet well," she chuckled and relaxed back in the evening breeze. "Besides, with the Veil, it wouldn't be believed anyway."

"One would hope," Abi agreed. "With all the problems the world has already, finding out that there's a secret one living right under its nose would probably be a Very Bad Thing."

"It's generally agreed that it would be, at least at this stage of social development." Kari nodded seriously. "At other points, I expect there is less of a secret, if any."

"Odd to think that we've likely gone backwards in so many ways," Abi mused. "As a whole, at least."

Kari thought about it. "I'm not so sure it is as much backwards, as just a transition phase, where things are mixed up. They are so much in flux right now, and are shifting rappidely."

"And showing no signs of slowing down," Abi admitted. "Quite the contrary. I used to think it was scary to think about what the world would be like in a few hundred years, given how fast things are moving now." She chuckled a little. "Now it seems I'm going to see it."

"You have one of the best tour guides available," she smiled reassuringly. "He's been threw it too many times to easily count."

"Probably not much that could ever really surprise him," Abi nodded, relaxing a bit. "It's just all a little overwhelming to think about, right now."

"I can imagine," Kari smiled easily as they watched the display of impossible skill. "Though if what I hear is true, he is surprised every time his heart is stolen. It's not an easy thing to claim."

"No, it isn't," Abi chuckled fondly, remembering when they'd first been dating. "Especially not with the way he looks at everything."

"Justifiable paranoia," Kari chuckled softly. "Even before that life, it was well warranted for him. There are far too many without morals who would do nearly anything to have his head."

"I understand," Abi nodded. "Just made it... interesting... trying to get close to him. Worth every minute of it though."

"I can imagine," Kari smiled softly. "Though you had a major advantage in that he didn't really want to avoid you. Chance ... how _he_ did what he did is beyond me."

"They probably couldn't have said either," Abi nodded. "Chance... there just wasn't any way to not like him, unless you hated him, and not many people managed that."

"Though those that did, did so passionately." She chuckled lightly. "He was as unique as anyone, and all the rarer for being a true Hero."

"The truest," Abi agreed softly. "Hard to believe he's really gone sometimes. As much as I'm glad Jake survived... losing Chance hit us all hard, and him hardest."

"Yes, it is something not even his uncountable years have eased any, when someone gets that close." Kari admitted softly. "He can be moody for centuries following a bad ending like this. I is not a time he would usually take on a student, but he has little choice, unless Sky teaches you. I doubt he could be convinced to trust anyone else with it."

"I just hope putting it off doesn't hurt him later on," Abi said softly. "I'm sure he'll mourn when he thinks he can afford to, but when he doesn't, he bottles things up too well sometimes."

"Part of why Sky is here," Kari said softly. "She has known him long enough to have certain liberties when it comes to getting him to deal with things he doesn't want to. Including keeping him dead for a few weeks while she deals with his outside problems, so he can focus on healing. It is not likely to be pretty any way it happens."

"Never is. With somebody like Jake, that's only more true. Do you know if there's anything I could do to help him?"

"Honestly, not really. Don't take his moodiness personally and be around to remind him that he has people who care about him and need him."

"That I can do," Abi nodded. "Try to, at least."

"It is all any of us can do." She sighed softly. "Grief passes in it's own way and time, no matter who or what you are."

"A universal truth," Abi sighed softly, nodding.

"One of very few even Tyr believes in." She nodded slightly as the battle dance keyed up another level into a swirling flash of blades and bodies oblivious to the rest of the world. "Another being 'enjoy every moment as if it was your last' though he has more difficulty actually practicing it."

"Oh, I don't know," Abi smiled, shaking her head in amazement as the display became even more impressive. "Given the things he enjoys, he does a better job of it than a lot of people I know."

"Until he gets hurt, according to my grandmother." Kari said quietly. "As you said, he is very good at bottling things up too much."

"Even the wrong things," Abi sighed slightly. "Gods willing, taking down Dark Kat helped him, some."

"Most likely," she nodded. "He has hated him for some time now."

"And killing Chance put him well beyond any boundaries Jake had for killing him," she mused softly. "I'm honestly not sure if he'd have cared whether he was Immortal or not, at that point."

"I seriously doubt it," Kari shook her head. "He won't say, but I'm quite sure the laws Immortals operate under did not exist for much of his life."

"He probably helped write a lot of them," Abi mused, shaking her head a bit. "Amazing, really."

"Quite possible, though I have yet to hear of him accept such a credit."

"Might not want credit for all of them," Abi mused. "Though it's not too important, in the long run. They're there, whoever wrote them."

"True," she nodded. "Likely part of the reason he teaches them, even the ones he does not care for."

"Still have to be followed," Abi nodded. "Most of the time at least."

"Or at least so you are aware of the rules as they are broken." She chuckled softly. "Like the one about not beginning training until you have already died, and about not meeting another Immortal until you are well into your training."

"Well, these aren't exactly normal circumstances," Abi smiled. "That second one, at least, I think the only way he could have avoided it would be to lock me up until she left."

"She should have been refused entry, by the letter of the law," Kari shook her head. "Not that it would have stopped her."

"And not that Jake has ever, to the best of my knowledge, been overly concerned with the letter of the law," Abi chuckled. "Glad she's here," she added quietly, "most cheerful I've seen him in a while."

"No, he's not." Kari laughed softly. "That he predates even the concept by a few million years and wrote most of the early ones kind of takes the intimidation value out of them."

"I'll have to remember not to pick up his 'bad habits,'" Abi smiled softly. "Of course, any major ones I'm sure he'll make sure I don't pick up, not for long at least."

"No doubt," she nodded with a fondness for the lean tom currently absorbed in the dancing fight with his oldest surviving student. "And he is a very good teacher, given how many of his students survive on their own."

"And how long they've survived, some of them at least," Abi nodded towards Sky slightly. "Not that I'd expect him to settle for anything less than excellence before turning a student loose."

"Very true," she nodded. "He spends a very long time with each before agreeing to turn them loose, though how available he is afterwards also has something to do with it. Few Immortals I know of outside his line welcome their students back so readily when they are in trouble."

"I don't think Jake could ever bring himself to completely abandon somebody he cares about," Abi said softly. "Even if they did bring it on themselves, to an extent."

"True," Kari smiled fondly at him. "It is amazing he still feels so strongly and cares so much for others, after all he has been threw. Most even close to his age have long since abandoned the mortal world and it's trappings. All this time, and he still plays the mortal very well, and enjoys it."

"Don't really know how he can do it," Abi murmured softly, more impressed as she thought about it. "Not without going crazy."

"Neither do I," Kari nodded softly in agreement. "Though he has had his moments where it cost him his sanity for a while. I don't think anything could make him give up what he does though. As much as he despises being called one, he is a hero in a very real way."

"The problem is getting him to recognize it," Abi smiled fondly.

"That seems to be true of the most of the best ones out there," she chuckled softly. "They are either full of themselves, or don't believe in their full worth."

"I'll take him the way he is over arrogant any day," Abi chuckled. "I can't imagine the level of ego he'd have if he went to the opposite end."

"Utterly insufferably, no doubt." Kari chuckled softly. "Though not all of them like that are bad. His Chance for example. Full of himself, but still very much a sweet guy."

"Very true," Abi smiled fondly. "He was full of himself, but never let it stop him from being a normal guy."

"It made him all the more special." Kari said softly with a touch of regret. "He will be missed dearly, both as Chance and as T-Bone."

"Nobody quite like him," Abi agreed softly. "Might have 'only' been a kat, but he was anything but normal."

"I'm sure Jake desperately wanted to be wrong about him, and that he would wake up from the crash as well." Kari said softly with respectful sadness. "It is never easy to lose one so dear, so quickly."

"He hasn't said it in as many words, but I have to agree with you," Abi nodded. "And I don't think it's supposed to be."

* * *

"And in a continuing trend, Dr. Viper has now been added to the casualties list of Omegas that began last week with Dark Kat and yesterday morning with Blaze. He was found this morning in the same state, his head removed and set to the side and his body showing clear signs of an intensive fight.

No one has claimed responsibility yet, and the Enforcers have no comment."

"Jake and Sky are making progress," Abi said softly, turning from the news to finish the note she was making when the story came up. "And the Omegas are starting to go to ground too, it seems."

"Not that it well help them much," Kari chuckled darkly. "Not against those two."

"Not sure anything would," Abi agreed, nodding slightly. "Maybe running, but that's about it."

"Not unless it's another world," a caramel tabby tomkat grinned at them.

"Maybe not even then," Kari nodded to him. "There are few places to hide from either of them."

"Other worlds," Abi asked, looking at both of them curiously.

"Both are older than our very _race_ ," Kari said softly, giving more importance to the statement than ever before. "Not even leaving this world, or this dimension, would spare one from their wrath. There is nothing, living, dead or immortal, that knows as much as they do of magic and the hunt. Even if there is one more gifted in the Art, there is no place they can not reach if they choose to. No where. No when. No way to escape for long."

"I thought you were saying there were other worlds they'd been to," Abi explained. "I'll remember not to get on their bad sides...."

Kari smiled softly. "Fortunately, that is a most difficult thing to do."

"It would have to be. Not that there aren't plenty of people out there who've done a spectacular job of it," she added, nodding towards the continuing news reports.

"That, I believe, is more tieing up loose ends, so he can turn his full attention to you." Kari chuckled softly. "He has sworn to protect this city, and he takes his oaths very seriously."

"For better or for worse - generally better," Abi nodded. "Just as well he doesn't give them too often."

"Very true," Kari said softly and turned her attention back to the news broadcast and it's more mundane subjects.


	6. Sky's Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is ten years later, and preparations finished, Abi begins her life as an Immortal.

A few years later, Abi was clearing out her desk at the Museum, mostly packing up the various books she'd brought in for one research project or another and forgotten to take back, when she noticed somebody at the door.

"Hello Jon," she said, smiling at the middle-aged Black Lab Kantin. "Come to see me off?"

"Yap," the ever-happy-go-lucky male wagged his tail and grinned. "And wondering where you're headed, now that MKC's too quiet for yah."

"Got an offer from a private party in Tellerin," she explained with a chuckle. "Have to be crazy not to take them up on it - research op of a lifetime. Besides," she smirked, "it _is_ too quiet around here without the Omegas trying to turn our exhibits into assorted doomsday devices anymore."

"Yeah, that is pretty weird," he shook his head with a chuckle. "It's just not quite MKC without the Omegas running around making Feral look bad."

"Yeah," she nodded with a half-laugh. "All that's left is the field-work, the paper-work, and making sure everything runs smoothly. Frankly, I'll go for the first one over the other two," she smirked.

"You and everybody sane," he snorted. "How's your boyfriend taking the move?"

"He's helping me with the research," she chuckled. "Might say he's a bit of a specialist in the field."

"Oh, gods. No wonder you're never around," he laughed and shook his head. "Just try to get out of the library every so often. It's good for your health to see the sun now and then."

"Hey, you try running a place like this and tell me you don't forget to look out the window once in awhile," she chuckled, the defensive tone clearly put-on as she reached into her pocket.

"No thanks, I like having a life, thank you very much."

"Then you'd better try finding somebody else who doesn't," she said, pulling out the keys to her office. "If it helps, I think you'll do a fine job, even if you do have one."

"You're joking. Right?" He looked completely stunned.

"No," she said seriously. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I only managed to sort out the paperwork and qualifications a little while ago, and you were out at the time."

"You're putting _me_ as Director of the museum?" The Black Lab stammered.

"Temporarily, and there are a few days yet to get everything sorted," she said quickly, trying to calm him down. "The Board will have to choose my replacement, but it could take them awhile. I'm just packing up to make room, not actually leaving, yet."

"Right," he nodded. "So when are you actually disappearing on us for good?"

"End of next week," she smiled. "It'll just take me forever to sort through these things," she chuckled, motioning towards the remaining books. "I have this terrible habit of not remembering whose are whose all the time, so if I just left without sorting, I'd have half the museum's collection, and they'd have half mine."

"Somehow, I expect we'd be the better off for it." He chuckled quietly, still rather stunned to be acting head of the museum. "You've got quite a collection last time I had to find something in it."

"All the more reason to be sure," Abi winked. "Besides," she added, thinking of Jake's library back at the manor, "it's not half as impressive as you might think. So, think you'll be ready to start getting up to speed tomorrow?"

"Uh, sure." He nodded, thrown quite off his intended teasing by the sudden revelation.

"Relax, Jon," she chuckled, patting his back. "You really think I'd pick you if I wasn't sure you could handle it?"

"Well no." He admitted, his tail wagging a bit more. "You wouldn't."

"Exactly," she smiled. "You'll do fine. Why don't you go get a good night's sleep? You'll need it," she winked.

"I'll try." He murmured and ducked his head, blushing.

"Have a good night, John," she smiled, starting to pack up more of her things.

* * *

"Welcome to my sanctuary," Tyr smiled as Sky brought the small private jet around for a sedate loop of the ancient complex that would definitely not have looked out of place as one of her digs, except for the lack of encroaching jungle at least.

"This is amazing," Abi said, looking down at it with her usual mix of curiosity and excitement. "You spend much time here, normally?"

"When I'm not playing a mortal," he nodded and nuzzled her neck affectionately. "It is the oldest of my surviving homes."

"It looks like it," she rumbled, returning the nuzzle and chuckling a bit. "And keep in mind who's saying that before anyone gets defensive."

"Oh, I never feel defensive about it when it is said about this one," he relaxed against her as Sky brought the craft down expertly on a runway that was nearly impossible to see in the riot of greens. "Besides, I haven't managed to get back in almost three centuries. It's _good_ to be home."

"You're usually back more often than that," she guessed. "It looks beautiful... is it the same on the inside, as it is out?"

"Parts yes, parts no." He smiled softly. "Some areas are devoted to magic, some history, some are higher tech than anything out there yet. Mostly it is old, though. A place for me to come and relax and train a student in solitude. Very, very little can get close without me knowing about it long before arrival."

"That seems to be a fairly common thread with your homes," she smiled. "You like your security systems. Has it been uninhabited for all 300 of those years, or just uninhabited by you?"

"Uninhabited by me," he smiled fractionally. "The staff lives here and my family drop by on occasion. My homes are open to them as well, for rest and sanctuary."

"Your old students, like Sky?"

"Yes," he inclined his head. "Though she's one of the few who will interrupt me when I have a student without dire need."

"Only when you're being stupid, handsome." Sky shot back from the controls as they touched down. "And we are here."

"What would you like to see first?" Jake kissed Abi's cheek and guided her to her feet. "There are many historical sites on the property as well as what I put here."

"Probably the room where you put me on a leash so I don't wander off and get lost," she chuckled, returning the kiss. "It's a very real possibility out here, I think."

"Oh, you can't get lost for long," he promised with a gentle kiss and led her outside into the lush jungle. "At least not from me."

"Good," she smiled, looking around at the scenery. "You know, it's probably just as good that most of my digs have been in deserts. It probably would've been... interesting... to have to explain stumbling across this place and trying to set up shop."

"Besides that it would never have happened, why?" He asked curiously and guided her by memory threw the lush growth.

"I think some of my co-workers and I would've either had heart attacks, or spontaneously combusted when we realized that there was somebody living here. Either that," she chuckled, "or mistaken it for some sort of lost civilization."

"Not entirely false," Tyr chuckled and nuzzled her as they walked. "It represents many of them that were important to me for a time."

"A little bit of most of your lives?" She went along with him, returning the nuzzle and kissing him lightly.

"The ones that made an impact at least," he nodded and leaned into her a bit. "The unfinished ... jet ... will have a place here. In time." He added softly. "When it is fond memories, and not painful."

"I'm sorry," she said softly, nuzzling him gently. "I think he'd be glad to know that he had an impact on you like that though."

"I doubt he'd have thought about it, honestly." Tyr smiled slightly, looking very much like Jake for a moment as the mortal-world pain clouded his vision. "He ... what he wanted most was to be a hero. For Chance Furlong to be a hero in the public eye."

"And he was, Jake - and is," Abi reminded him gently, putting her hand on his shoulder supportively.

"It was the least I could do, to give his memory that much of what he didn't get in life." He closed his eyes against the tears that wouldn't be denied.

"It's okay, Jake," she said softly, shifting to hold him lightly. "Go ahead."

Sky came up quietly and set a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder. Whatever it meant between them, it allowed the tom to relax slightly and bury his face in Abi's soft brown fur.

Eventually he pulled himself together enough to continue to the main building, but it left him quiet. Sky silently motioned for Abi to stay near the ancient stone entranceway of the home, heavily engraved and brightly painted, while the old Immortal led her mentor inside.

She did just that, watching the two of them quietly, a part of her frustrated that she couldn't do more to help. She only sort of saw the hieroglyphic language carved in stone and maintained with loving care for the paint before Sky returned.

"He should sleep for a time," the older shekat said quietly. "I can give you a tour if you would like."

"He'll be okay, as much as can be expected?"

"Yes," Sky nodded and gently guided Abi inside the ancient stone building. "He is grieving, nothing more."

"I know," she sighed. "I just wish there was more I could do to help him."

"You are doing a great deal, believe me." Sky smiled at her gently as they walked threw the great entrance hall that bore distinct markings of several ancient cultures from many continents on it's walls. "To my knowledge, you are the first Immortal he has actually fallen in love with."

Abi looked at her, her surprise clear in her expression.

"The first... I thought...?"

"He has always fallen for mortals up to now." She nodded slightly. "Many Immortal lovers, but none he fell in love with."

"I didn't know," Abi said softly.

"There is no reason for you to have." She put a gentle hand on the brown shekat's shoulder. "The truth is that few of us ever fall in love with another Immortal. Even rarer is it to work out."

"I'd imagine that having eternity to look forward to could start to seem a little... dull, after awhile," Abi nodded slightly. "It's good to know that it's mutual though."

"Quite mutual," Sky chuckled softly. "And it can be, though I think it has more to do with the Immortal psyche than anything. We simply do not seem to feel that strongly towards each other. Even Tyr's protective nature is not nearly so strong when it comes to one of us."

"Probably self-defense," Abi chuckled slightly. "As much as he tries to, he can't protect everybody... and as dangerous as it sounds like being an Immortal is, I imagine it's about the only way to keep from going insane sometimes...."

"Well, more like the only way to keep from getting permanently dead." Sky shook her head. "You saw what happened after Chance."

"I remember," Abi shuddered. "Lucky I managed to keep my head when that happened."

"Yes, and he has friends and family to look after him."

"Thank Bastet for that," Abi agreed. "I don't like the feeling that I'm keeping him from dealing with Chance's death," she admitted.

"You aren't, and if it starts to look like it, I'll take over your training, whether he likes it or not." Sky rumbled determinedly.

"All right," Abi nodded. "Though, no offense, I hope it doesn't come to that."

"Me either." Sky shook her head a bit. "I understand you're an archeologist?"

"By training, though I spent more time in the museum than the field the last year or so," Abi admitted sheepishly. "Always preferred the field though."

"I can't say I'm surprised, on either count." Sky chuckled softly. "You'll have plenty of field time how, with at least one tour guide who was there. Though knowing father, he'll _take_ you to your favorite time and place for a honeymoon."

" _Going_ to a different time," Abi asked, looking over at Sky with a startled expression. "I know he's been through time before, but that wasn't intentional...."

"No, they weren't." She nodded and patted the brown shekat's shoulder. "But we both are accomplished spell-weavers. Time travel is not exactly difficult, when you know how."

"And I thought he said time-travel was a headache," Abi chuckled slightly. "Though, granted, I think he was talking about the future mostly."

"Which is, in a big way." She chuckled and shook her head. "Though it's more accurate to call that future-cross-dimensional travel. As opposed to going into the past, which is just time travel, and the jump forward you have a good reference for."

"This is why I stick to pots," Abi mock-groaned. "Magic like that is _way_ out of my league, honestly."

"Not really," Sky grinned at her. "You have some talent for it, after all. And now you have all the time in the world, literally, to learn."

"I suppose you're right," Abi mused, thinking about it for a moment. "Honestly, I wasn't even sure if it was possible to do that sort of thing anymore, without some sort of focus like the Past Master's watch."

"It is something that mortals have let fall into obscurity." Sky said quietly, a trace of regret lacing her voice. "It is just as possible as it ever was, but few, if any, mortals know how anymore. It has been left to us alone."

"I'm sure there are some who know how yet," Abi said softly. "After all... what I do know, I learned from them. I'd be surprised if there wasn't somebody who knew how yet, besides the lunatic fringe."

"You assume a normal mortal taught you what you know." Sky told her quietly. "While I would welcome being wrong about this, I do not believe I am."

"You're right," Abi admitted, "I was assuming that. Keep forgetting the numbers Kari gave me about that sort of thing."

"It's easy to forget, honestly."

"That's good to know," Abi chuckled a bit. "I'd hate to think it was just me."

"Not at all." Sky chuckled. "Particularly since most of them look normal."

"Well, the old woman who started me going hardly looked normal, but I know what you mean," Abi chuckled. "That was a very, very strange trip."

"I would imagine so." She nodded. "Is there anything in particular you're interested in? This is a big place with a lot of history stashed away.

"Something I'll still have a chance of understanding would be nice," Abi chuckled ruefully, remembering some of her earlier days at Tyr's home back in MegaKat City.

"How about the pool?" Sky chuckled with an understanding smile.

"That, I think I'll be able to understand," she chuckled.

"It was... interesting... trying to trace the languages back through those books...." She shook her head a bit, remembering the challenge it had posed, one that she'd needed help with towards the end. "A linguist's wet dream though."

"Our _heads_ are any historian's wet dream." Sky chuckled with a knowing look. "But to get to read, to actually _see_ , the origin of so many languages must be pretty intense for one."

"If it was my main field, I probably wouldn't have come up for air nearly as quickly as I did," Abi chuckled. "Though Jake was pretty good about making sure I did once in awhile."

"Yes, he does like to have your attention at least every so often." Sky snickered. "And he is quite good at getting what he wants."

"Not that I'm complaining about that," Abi winked. "And yes, he is. If there's any way, he'll be the one to find it."

"And when there isn't ... well, he doesn't take it well, but he survives." She said softly. "There are days I'd swear he was getting ready to rewrite Fate itself, just to get something done."

"If he could, I suspect he would," Abi agreed. "Or possibly history," she added softly.

"He can." Sky sighed. "It is half the torture. He has the power to change what has happened, and he is intimately familiar with why he must not."

"He tried it before?"

"Tried, and succeeded." She nodded slightly. "But like most things, to change one thing, changes a great deal. More than even we can predict or control. The last time ... well ... he sort of fragged the planet. The first is what made this a Nexus world."

"Fragged the...." Abi licked her lips slightly, paling beneath her fur and shaking her head. "Is that worse, or better than the first time? I would think worse, but that's not how it sounds from what you're saying...."

Sky had to think about it for a while, then shrugged. "Different. No less destructive, just different."

"Okay... just what is a Nexus world? I think I've heard it referenced before, but...."

"It's a place where all the weirdness gathers. Where all the lost souls and disappearances throughout the rest of reality end up." She shook her head slightly. "All the Omegas running around? They're here because of the Nexus effects."

"That... could explain a few things," Abi murmured softly. "About Jake, and otherwise."

"Yeah, I doubt he'll ever forgive himself that one, much less any of the others. A few million years worth of blood and mistakes are hard to wash out of your fur."

"He couldn't have known what would happen, but I can understand," Abi sighed. "And every time one of them does something, it just keeps adding up...."

"Something like that." She nodded. "And now Chance has died thanks to what he created. It's not terribly logical, but then such pain rarely is."

"It's Jake's logic," Abi nodded. "That's... really about the only way to explain it, as far as I can tell. Such high expectations."

"It comes when you've taken everything you've ever known as your protectorate, and can't let go." She shook her head slightly. "One of these days he's going to burn out completely, but at this rate, the sun may go before he does."

"I hope it doesn't go that far," Abi sighed softly. "Maybe when he leaves it'll help...."

"Perhaps," she shook her head slightly. "Though what he would entrust his past too is a question I have no idea how to answer."

"Neither do I... I'd be very, very surprised if he wanted to leave it behind, even a good portion of it. Well... wanted to, maybe, but I don't know if he could."

"Not without taking another on." She shook her head with a low chuckle. "Though admittedly if he manages to raise another race without the extra troubles, it might help him."

"Can I ask something about that? Raising Kats," she clarified.

"Sure." Sky nodded and found a comfortable place around a very natural looking lagoon pool.

"If Jake is older than Kats... then how does he look like one? Or is this something magical?"

"Honestly, I never understood that part." Sky chuckled softly. "But of the five of us who predate our apparent kind, we all do. I honestly don't remember if we looked like Kats before Kats did, or if our appearance has changed over time to match them. It's not intentional magic, not on my part at least."

"At least I'm not the only person a little confused by that," Abi chuckled. "I suppose it could be that Kats were made to look like you... would make a little more sense, as much as anything that far back really does."

"Including something as simple as our appearance being taken by pre-kats as what beauty is." She shook her head. "After all, we were gods to a lot of those cultures. Anyone that looked more like us than average would have a real advantage in mate selection. Over time, they'd start looking like us, just by virtue of wanting to."

"Evolution in progress," Abi nodded. "Classical evolution, at least. Farther back than any known records go, so there's no way to prove it, but it's the simplest explanation, really."

"Well, any public records at least." Sky chuckled softly. "I'm sure it's in our journals and records somewhere."

"Probably," Abi chuckled, "but that would require finding it. I'll keep working on the slightly more modern civilizations for a while, I think - work my way back," she winked.

"Just don't forget to keep up with the modern ones." Sky winked back. "They can change on you so fast."

"I had that problem even before I found out about this," Abi grinned a little sheepishly.

"I'm not surprised." She snickered and relaxed in the warm afternoon sun. "But try looking up and realizing that a few centuries have passed and you don't even speak a living language anymore."

"That would be... awkward," Abi nodded with a chuckle. "Jake's done that more than once, I'd wager."

"Most of us creative types have." She nodded with a chuckle. "Fortunately we have friends that can bring us up to date quickly without too many questions."

"Well, as long as everybody doesn't do it at once, then things should be fine," Abi laughed a bit, relaxing some herself. "I'll bet that would make the news - people turning up all over the world who seem to have been out of the loop for centuries."

"Oh yeah, that would _completely_ blow our cover." Sky chuckled, shaking her head. "Of course, a few centuries without any of us around would result in _so_ much chaos. Between the new kits that don't have anyone to teach them and how much of the background we're involved in, it would get really ugly."

"No kidding, though I'm sure the ones who aren't so prone to 'zoning out' would try to keep things on track. Or is it something a lot of Immortals have happen?"

Sky thought for a moment, considering the numbers and how things typically happened.

"We all do, now and then." She considered quietly. "Eventually the speed of things just gets to you and you need to take a breather from it. But I wouldn't call it common for most."

"Makes sense," Abi nodded, thinking it over. "Probably more like a sabbatical for most, instead of something that 'just happens.' Just that most sabbaticals are measured in months or years, not decades or more."

"Yeah, and most careers are measured in decades, not centuries." Sky chuckled.

"Well, it sounds like that stays the same, as far as the rest of the world's concerned," Abi chuckled. "In a while, Abi Sinian's going to have to retire permanently. As much as the people at the museum thought it'd never happen," she added with a bit of a smirk.

"At least not without a funeral." She chuckled softly. "You have _no_ idea how many times I expected your training to start before now."

"If you mean what I think you do, can't say I've always disagreed with you," Abi said sheepishly. "A few people refused to go on digs with me. Some nonsense about not wanting the pots to hold things that want to kill them," she winked.

"They shouldn't worry, they were usually after your boyfriend." Sky snickered. "Or you."

"Or both, once in awhile," Abi added, shaking her head. "Though it was almost refreshing sometimes, when the problems were the usual things a dig has to deal with. Weather can be more destructive than the Past Master could hope to be, but at least there's training for how to deal with it."

"I don't think there is any way to train to deal with this chaos that is that city." Sky shook her head. "If he didn't feel so responsible for it, I'd have voted to scrape it clean eons ago."

"Scrape it clean?"

"Take it down to the physical and metaphysical bedrock. Clean _everything_ out and keep a better eye on things in the future, keep mortals from settling it and such. But he can't accept that much death because of something he caused in the first place."

"And there's not really any way to just move them without noticing," Abi agreed, trying with mixed results to conceal her response to the idea of just killing the city.

"Pretty much his response." Sky nodded. "Except without the restraint."

"Sorry," Abi said, less about her response than at its being noticed. "Just not the sort of idea that really sits well... I can see why it'd bother Jake, especially blaming himself for it. He's put so much of himself into protecting it, I don't know how well it'd go over even if he didn't."

"Poorly, for the most part." She nodded. "Every so often he gets in a mood that's utterly calculating and merciless but it's not often."

"I'd have to say that's a good thing," Abi shivered slightly. "The idea of him focused on something like that... Dark Kat wouldn't have anything on what he could do."

"No, not at all." She nodded quietly. "Even before he drew his children in on things. He's likely the most moral of the lot of us. Most days."

Abi wasn't really sure what to say to that, without it coming across the wrong way, so it took her a moment to respond.

"Not something that's pleasant to think about, either way," she finally said softly.

"No, it's not." Sky agreed. "It's kind of odd thought, when you've lived threw enough cultures and moralities as some of us have, to actually conceder modern morals to be normal, but it seems to be the norm."

"Not really my field, but morals seems to be as much social standards as what's right or wrong," Abi admitted. "Which makes it very, very touchy, sometimes, to discuss the things we find."

"Try having spent a few centuries and lifetimes in one and then find out that it's not acceptable anymore." She shook her head. "You're used to academics, we actually lived them."

"That would probably be about the worst part of falling out of the loop that long," Abi agreed, shivering a bit at the thought. "Especially if nobody does it that way anymore."

"That's where family comes in." She nodded quietly. "It's also where some of the most destructive people in history come from."

Abi licked her lips with a bit of a shudder at the thought, putting it together with some of what she remembered. The names of particularly brutal and barbaric conquerors and serial killers, and more than a few leaders of 'revived' death-cults, were foremost in the list of candidates.

"Are many of them still alive, after that?"

"More than the mortal world would like to think." She nodded quietly. "Tyr and I both have several of those names on our records."

"I'm not sure I needed to know that last part," Abi said softly. "But it makes sense... some of them were too much alike, too many people who 'styled themselves after' somebody from centuries before."

"Unpleasant, but necessary." Sky looked at the still-mortal student. "It does no one a service for you to remain ignorant of the less pleasant parts of our nature. Someone would take the opening to try to break us apart."

"I suppose you're right," she agreed after a moment, thinking about something. "Does it ever get any easier?"

"Not usually, whatever you're asking about." Sky said gently.

"Having to kill somebody," Abi explained, shaking her head a bit. "I've done it before, had to, but it's never really set well, even when it was self-defense. And that wasn't the sort of thing Jake described, when he was explaining everything to me early on."

Sky had to think about that, then shook her head. "For myself, it was never difficult." She said quietly. "It's just part of my nature to accept it. For those that are troubled by killing, most have gotten used to it in away. Much like Jake. It bothers him, but not as much as it once did. It is simply the price of survival for our kind in this world."

"That's something, I suppose," the brown-furred she-kat sighed. "Of course, from what he described, I doubt I'll have the same chance to worry about it right afterwards either."

"Right afterwards, no." She chuckled. "When the lightshow ends and you recover, that's when you start to think about it, if you're going to." She shifted to squeeze Abi's hand gently. "But you aren't going to be alone either."

"That's good," she nodded, squeezing Sky's hand back. "At least if the first time was any indication. Hasn't happened often, and I'm not nearly 'used' to it yet. Usually, things that attacked our camps either weren't intelligent, wouldn't respond to bullets, or both," she chuckled weakly, shivering a bit.

"Yeah, there's that too." She nodded with a gentle smile. "And given who your teacher and _mate_ is, you won't face many challenges. Not many would be willing to facing winning against you, only to face him before the Quickening faded."

"That is something," Abi agreed, swallowing and trying to cheer up a bit. "At least I have to choice to make sure it's always defense too."

"There is that too," she nodded easily. "But you have a few centuries before it's even a concern."

"Good," she nodded, thinking about it. "It sounds like such an abstract thing, with those numbers in front of it. Doesn't feel like one, but it keeps sounding like it."

"It's pretty surreal for awhile." She nodded in understanding. "Hell, I've _lived_ that long, as it's still pretty surreal to think about."

"Does it still 'feel' like the time it is," Abi asked curiously. "You and Jake talk about spans like that almost like they pass in the blink of an eye sometimes, but other times... well, like now. It sounds like it still feels like hundreds of years for you."

"Pretty much," she chuckled softly. "Sometimes millennia can pass with hardly a notice, sometimes days seem to last for years. It's not so different from your life now, just with longer increments on occasion."

"And still an eternity when you're waiting for somebody to come home, I'm sure," Abi nodded with a bit of a smile. "Sounds like another case of 'the more things change.'"

"That's as good a summary as any." She chuckled softly.

* * *

"Do you feel ready?" Tyr's voice was low and gentle when he approached his mate almost five years after they had returned to his secluded home.

"As I'll ever be," she nodded, trying to push down the jitters that started up as she thought about it. "You're sure I'll be okay through this?"

"Yes," he drew her close and kissed her gently. "I am sure."

"All right," she nodded, kissing him back lightly. "I trust you, Jake."

"It won't be bad." He murmured reassuringly and guided her to their bedroom. "No pain at all."

"I know," she nodded, taking a deep breath as he lead her into their room. "Just... doesn't seem like the sort of thing you do intentionally."

"Don't think about it like that," he nuzzled her and guided her to their bed and the simple, flavorful meal on it's tray. "It is merely a rest that you wake you stronger from."

"All right," she smiled weakly, sitting down on the bed next to him and returning the nuzzle. "I'll try to relax."

"That's right," he kissed her softly. "Just drink the tea and relax."

"Thank you," she smiled softly, taking the cup of tea and sipping it slowly. "I know this is better, just have to wrap my brain around it the rest of the way."

"I know love." He nuzzled her gently. "It'll be okay."

"Okay," she said, sighing a little and taking some more of the tea. "So... when do we start?"

"It is done," he kissed her gently and pulled her close as she gave a surprised look at the nearly empty cup. "Just rest, you will wake Immortal."

"All right," she said softly, pressing close as she started to feel the contents of the cup take effect, and a heavy sleep started to wash over her.

"Rest, my love." His voice drifted into her drowsy mind before the darkness of unconsciousness claimed her. "All will be well."

* * *

"Good morning, love." Jake's voice was soft and affectionate, so much like every morning of the last nine years that it took her a moment to remember why she was surprised.

"Morning," she said, nuzzling him lightly as the fog over her mind lifted. "It worked," she added softly.

"Of course." He smiled and kissed her cheek. "I would not let you come to harm."

"I know," she murmured, turning to kiss him gently. "There was still that part of me that didn't quite believe it, I think." She held him close, purring softly. "I love you, Jake."

"Forever, love." He smiled and drew her close with a nuzzle. "Do you want proof you are Immortal now?" He asked gently.

"I think that depends on the type of proof," she chuckled weakly, nuzzling him again. "Dying again isn't too high on my list of priorities right now, if it can be helped...."

"Good," he nuzzled her. "I was thinking something less drastic. A little scratch to show you now heal as I do now."

"I think I can handle that," she smiled softly and got a kiss for it as his fingers brushed down her chest. He unshiethed his claws between her breasts and drove one into the skin with just enough force to draw blood.

"Ouch," she murmured softly, looking down at the cut as faint blue energy began to crackle over it and closed her skin, leaving the blood already on her fur there. "Well, that answers the question of whether or not it still hurts."

"Just like pleasures." He slipped a hand down her body to tease between her legs.

"Well I knew that didn't stop," she chuckled, kissing him and starting to purr. "Not unless you're a remarkably good actor."

"Which I am, but I don't have to with this." He chuckled low in his throat and nuzzled her.

"Mmm... good," she purred, rubbing his back lightly, slowly moving her hand down to his thighs, then between them.

"Oh, yeah." He rumbled softly as his body responded eagerly to her touch. "On the subject, taking a Quickening makes you _very_ hot."

"I'll keep it in mind," she chuckled slightly, "but I don't think it'll come up that often." She kissed him heatedly, closing her eyes and inhaling their scents as he responded just as eagerly.

"More with me than you." He rumbled and depended their kiss.

* * *

Abi stretched out after one of her training sessions with Jake, groaning slightly as muscle she hadn't used in ages protested the sudden, remarkably strenuous, increase in activity.

"This has to get easier eventually," she reminded herself quietly, shaking her head and looking over at Jake.

"It does," he chuckled as he put the wooden swords away. "When you're in better shape."

"And here I thought I was in pretty good shape, for an archaeologist," she chuckled. "Mmm... think I could talk you into something a little less physical this afternoon?"

"Sure," he came back and drew her into his arms for a nuzzle. "What did you have in mind?"

"Mmm... maybe a tour of your museum," she suggested, returning the nuzzle and wrapping her arms around him loosely.

"Of course." He smiled and kissed her neck gently. "What part did you want to see?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Something important to you... I know it all is, but...." She frowned, trying to think of how to word it. "There's so much of you I don't really know, and so much of it in there."

He nodded slowly, not sure what to show her any more than she could explain it. "Why not start with the time and place that fascinates you the most?"


End file.
